Medical errors drop as doctors go digital: Survey

Abu Dhabi - The UAE findings, part of an online survey of 2,921 physicians in seven countries

Doctors in the country are more proficient in using electronic medical records (EMR) and medical errors have come down in two years, a recent survey has found.
The UAE findings, part of an online survey of 2,921 physicians in seven countries, including 302 in the UAE, found two-thirds of doctors are more proficient using EMR than they were two years ago. Nearly three-fourths (74 per cent) of doctors in the UAE say EMR has improved the quality of treatment decisions and has reduced medical errors, according to the survey carried out by Accenture, a global professional services company found.
"Despite the rapid uptake of electronic medical records, the industry is facing the reality that digital records alone are not sufficient to driving better, more-efficient care in the long-term," said Dr Majid, managing director for Accenture's health and public service business in the Middle East and North Africa.
"The findings underscore the importance of adopting both technology and new care processes, as some leading health systems have already done, so that as electronic records evolve, so too will the benefits to physicians and patient care."
Rise in online services
Driven by growing demand for patient engagement, doctors in all seven countries reported a range of services that are now available to patients online. Many UAE doctors allow patients to self-schedule an appointment online (41 per cent of respondents), view health information during consultation (36 per cent), receive reminders when it's time for preventative or follow-up care (33 per cent), communicate with their doctor through secure email (32 per cent), consult with clinicians through video conferencing (30 per cent) and use tele-monitoring devices, such as wearables, to track their health indicators (29 per cent).
The survey also showed that doctors in the UAE believe that allowing patients to update their own medical records increases patient and physician communication (cited by 89 per cent of respondents), improves patient satisfaction (87 per cent), boosts understanding of their health conditions (87 per cent), enhances engagement in their own health (85 per cent) and increases the accuracy of their medical records (84 per cent).
IT capabilities
The survey found that the IT capabilities that doctors in the UAE use routinely are as follows: entering patient notes electronically (26 per cent); electronically sending order requests to laboratories (22 per cent); using electronic administration tools (18 per cent); and prescribing drugs electronically (17 per cent).
Although roughly three-in-five (62 per cent) doctors in the UAE believe EMR has improved health outcomes, about the same percentage (61 per cent) say IT has increased the amount of time they have to spend with patients. Meanwhile, the majority of doctors believe easy-to-use data-entry systems (60 per cent) and interoperability (57 per cent) are important for improving the quality of patient care through healthcare IT, but many (58 per cent) find the EMR system in their organisation is hard to use.
"The industry needs to adapt to a new generation of patients who are taking proactive roles in their healthcare and expect to have real-time data at their fingertips," said Dr. Al Tuwaijri.
"When patients have a greater role in the healthcare process, it can increase their understanding of conditions, improve motivation and serve as a benchmark for clinical care provided by physicians."
Methodology
Accenture commissioned an online survey of 2,921 doctors in seven countries to assess their adoption and attitudes toward electronic health records and healthcare IT. The seven countries represented were Australia (510), Brazil (504), England (502), Norway (302), Singapore (200), UAE (302) and the United States (601). The survey was conducted by Nielsen between December 2014 and January 2015, followed by a second field period in UAE from September to November 2015.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com

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