Dive Brief:
- The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has announced in a position statement that it is in favor of controls on the copy-and-paste function in EMRs.
- In its paper, AHIMA argues that copy-and-paste should be permitted only when strong technology and administrative controls are in place. Otherwise, it argues, there's a risk for creating "inaccurate, fraudulent or unwieldy documentation," wrote the trade group, which represents more than 72,000 health information management and health informatics professionals.
- Among other suggestions, AHIMA recommends designing EMR systems so health care providers can configure the use of the copy-and-paste functionality, including recording copy-and-paste user actions.
Dive Insight:
Overloaded with fields to fill out, it's common for doctors to copy and paste basic clinical details within an EMR from patient to patient. Unfortunately, this can lead to inaccurate documentation and even patient harm. What's more, it can lead to submitting inaccurate claims, which CMS sees as fraud even if no fraud was intended. It seems that it's time to control copy-and-paste capabilities in such a way as to avoid inaccurate information created by duplication.