Pew Calls for Additional Health IT Safety Measures in Hospital Accreditations

The Pew Charitable Trusts, MedStar Health, and the University of Utah School of Medicine sent comments Oct. 21 to the Joint Commission, the nation’s largest accreditor of hospitals, urging it to take steps to improve the safety of electronic health record (EHR) systems. Specifically, the letter highlighted recommendations that the commission could include in its hospital accreditation program, such as requiring that hospitals conduct regular safety reviews of EHRs and have a process in place for reporting errors that may be linked to health IT.