Not sure about the safety of electronic health information technology (IT)? To help health care practitioners get more comfortable with electronic health records (EHRs) and other products, the HHS is providing evidence-based Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) Guides.
The guides “combine the latest applied knowledge of health IT safety with practical tools that will help providers…effectively assess and optimize the safety and safe use of EHR technology within their organizations,” said Jacob Reider, MD, chief medical officer at the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
Developed by leading health IT safety and informatics researchers, the SAFER guides are based on the latest available evidence, expert opinion, stakeholder engagement, and field work. They complement existing health IT safety tools and research developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and ONC.
Each guide contains self-assessment checklists, practice worksheets, and recommended practices. They address such topics as high-priority practices, patient identification, and reviewing and following up on test results. The guides are available as downloadable PDFs and as interactive Web-based tools at http://www.HealthIT.gov/saferguide.
