An investigative report from the Arizona Department of Health Services detailed serious patient safety problems when Banner University Medical Center Tucson was working on their computer system.
While upgrading its health records system, Banner University Medical Center Tucson experienced a significant number of computer glitches during the upgrade causing problems in delivering medications, ordering tests, and caring for critically ill patients. The hospital also had problems delivering and administering chemotherapy for patients in the hospital and outpatients.
Some of the most problematic findings included:
- a physician who ordered a larger dose of medication for an infant than was needed; and
- nurses who had difficulty calculating the appropriate dosage of a blood thinning medication for a patient who had undergone a kidney transplant. The patient was internally bleeding and needed to be resuscitated twice.
Were these issues caused by the failure of Banner University Medical Center Tucson to train its doctors and staff on the differences between the old and new health records system? Only time will tell. It appears that perhaps too many doctors, nurses, and staff were not properly equipped to deal with the transition which led to patient injuries and near-misses. The simple fact is that medical malpractice rates continue to rise throughout the country. Computer systems should make malpractice less likely for various reasons, but electronic records also have their own inherent problems. Since patients can be injured due to a host of issues, it is important to find a medical malpractice lawyer that has significant experience in all aspects of malpractice cases. This includes the electronic medical record system, and proving that doctors and/or nurses had access to certain information in the chart even if they claim they did not.
Contact Snyder & Wenner today for more information on medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuits in Tucson, Arizona.
