I read yet another story this past weekend about how “computers” had discharged a patient at a west coast hospital with a diagnosis of pregnancy. The problem was that the patient was an elderly male. We all know that at some point somebody handed this patient a discharge note with this diagnosis. Assuming they actually looked at it, they must have said, “not my job.”
Blaming on the computer system is a nice excuse that the organization can give a patient that does not know any better. It deflects the issue from the true root cause; not taking ownership. This is wrong on so many levels. Let’s just look at it from a basic revenue standpoint. Invest in better training, certification processes and quality incentives. This improves quality of information, reduces errors in claims submission, reduces A/R and reduces rework.
So why do we still read about diagnosis errors? With millions at stake, organizational reputations and the need to reduce more critical patient errors, we still see very basic process errors? Can organizations like AHIMA provide certifications for all touch points in the continuum of care or are we always going to read stories about bad computers?
