A startling discovery was made in a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
In a study at the University of California, Los Angeles, it was found that almost one in five patients who had passed away were still marked as alive in electronic health records (EHRs).
Moreover, a staggering 80 percent of these individuals continued to receive communications from their primary care providers after their death.
Dr. Neil S. Wenger and his team conducted this research to find out how many patients in a health system were wrongly marked as alive.
They looked at the EHR data of 11,698 patients, all seriously ill and regularly visiting primary care at 41 clinics in an academic health system.
What they found was concerning. While 25 percent of these patients were correctly recorded as deceased in the EHR, 5.8 percent were actually dead according to state death records but were still listed as alive in the EHR.
This mistake led to a lot of unnecessary communication. About 80 percent of the 676 patients who were mistakenly marked as alive had appointments or other encounters scheduled after their death. They received about 221 phone calls and 338 messages through the patient portal.
That’s not all. Around 221 of these patients were sent 920 letters about things like flu shots and cancer screenings they obviously didn’t need.
Another 166 received 226 other types of mail. Orders for vaccines and other clinical care were placed for 158 patients, and 88 medications were authorized during 130 encounters.
In simpler terms, it’s like these patients became digital ghosts. Their records in the computer systems didn’t reflect reality, leading to a lot of confusion and unnecessary actions.
Imagine getting a reminder for a flu shot for a loved one who’s no longer there. That’s what happened here.
The study underlines a crucial need for health systems to be more accurate and up-to-date with their patient records.
This isn’t just about keeping files clean; it’s about providing responsible care and respecting the families of those who have passed away. It’s a reminder that in the age of digital records, keeping data correct and current is a vital part of healthcare.
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The research findings can be found in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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