"Computer problems" force docs back to paper charts at Memorial Hospital - From June 11 until at least June 24?

More on the wonders and dependability of commercial health IT, as implemented in hospitals, which are generally an IT backwaters:

Computer problems force docs back to paper charts at Memorial Hospital

Published: June 17, 2013 

BELLEVILLE (Illinois) — Computer problems have caused Memorial Hospital (http://www.memhosp.com/Pages/Home.aspx) staff back to the old days of using paper to chart patients' treatments.

The hospital's computer system, Meditech, went down late on Tuesday, June 11 and is not expected to be fully restored until at least Monday, June 24, according to the hospital. In the meantime, staff will be recording patients' medical records unto traditional paper charts.

"While the duration of this down time is unfortunate, all hospital services continue utilizing the backup process we have in place for occasions such as this," Memorial President Mark Turner said in a prepared statement. "I am extremely proud of the way our employees and medical staff have pulled together to maintain quality care and patient safety."

Once the system is up and running again, the information from the paper charts will be transferred into each patient's electronic medical record. The same standards for patient confidentiality and safety are being met, according to the hospital.

The computer problems are believed to result from upgrades added to the system in preparation for a major upgrade in July.

"The duration of this down time is unfortunate?"  This mission-critical system went down June 11 and won't be fully restored until June 24?  How is this even possible?  What, exactly, were their maximal-uptime, redundancy, disaster recovery and business continuity strategies?  Was there a natural disaster in that area I don't know about?

Regarding the hospital President's statement that:

"I am extremely proud of the way our employees and medical staff have pulled together to maintain quality care and patient safety."

I would translate that to read:

"Our IT incompetence is all on you, clinicians.  You're liable for any patient harm that results in the messy transitions from IT to paper, and back from paper to IT."

-- SS

Addendum - a question I've asked before - if everything is just fine, business as usual, with no safety impediments after reverting to paper due to emergency ... then why spend $100 million+ on EHRs?

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/06/17/2660472/computer-problems-force-docs-back.html#storylink=cpyA

Don't Worry, Your Records are Safe - Part IV

At past posts "Don't Worry, Your Electronic Medical Records Are Getting Safer With Every Passing Day", "Another Episode of "But Don't Worry, Your Records are Safe..." and "Still More Electronic Medical Data Chaos, Pandemonium, Bedlam, Tumult and Maelstrom: But Don't Worry, Your Data is Secure", I wrote on the issue of medical record security.

Security from prying eyes, that is.

I didn't include security of data from placement into /dev/null (that is, destruction).

There's this email, received by East coast physicians not long ago from a claims processing company (identities redacted):

Dear Provider,

As you may be aware, we experienced a significant problem with our computer system during a software maintenance function on XX/XX/2010.

In addition to the network issue, we discovered that the redundant back-up systems were not operating as reported.  ["Reported" when, and by whom, one wonders? - ed.]

We had two on-site back-up systems that were monitored daily and which were historically reported as successful.  We have since learned that these internal back-up functions were not operating as reported and the on-site back-ups were not entirely successful. [Meaning, they were not successful, period - ed.]

Also, our software vendor, [major EHR vendor], was providing two additional remote back-ups on servers located in [city, state] and [city, state]. [EHR vendor] has informed us that these remote back-ups were not initiated as represented.  [Meaning, they screwed up - ed.]  Therefore, when our computer network system malfunctioned, there was no readily available back-up data on-site or at the remote redundant back-up servers.

Please be aware that we have replaced hardware components and were able to recreate the data bases and we are billing.  However, we are still unable to access data that was stored on our servers prior to XX/XX/2010.

[EHR vendor] is diligently working to retrieve the data from the hard drives, back-up tapes, and through other means.  Please be assured that all files will be restored, if the files cannot be fully restored electronically, then they will be fully restored manually.

At [our claims processing company], we are truly saddened by the fact that we have disappointed clients and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience experienced by you, your staff, or your patients.

We have always appreciated your loyalty as a valued client and will continue to keep you informed of the progress.

The levels of information technology and data management incompetence exhibited in this message are stunning. 

The confidence it imparts regarding the safety of our critical medical data from destruction, and its availability when truly needed, is less than stellar.

A major problem is that the health IT industry has no accountability. 

I believe the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act needs to be amended to become the "Food, Drug, Cosmetic, and Cybernetic" Act.

-- SS

If gov't officials can't deal with bendy bananas, curvy cucumbers and water for hydration, how can they possibly consider issues with computers?

I present this story with almost no commentary except this post's title, the simple observation that keeping government out of many aspects of out lives is not a bad idea, and a few minor points:

The Telegraph

EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration

Brussels bureaucrats were ridiculed yesterday after banning drink manufacturers from claiming that water can prevent dehydration.

By Victoria Ward and Nick Collins

6:20AM GMT 18 Nov 2011

EU officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense. Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said: “This is stupidity writ large.

“The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true.

“If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it.”

NHS health guidelines state clearly that drinking water helps avoid dehydration, and that Britons should drink at least 1.2 litres per day.

The Department for Health disputed the wisdom of the new law. A spokesman said: “Of course water hydrates. While we support the EU in preventing false claims about products, we need to exercise common sense as far as possible."

German professors Dr Andreas Hahn and Dr Moritz Hagenmeyer, who advise food manufacturers on how to advertise their products, asked the European Commission if the claim could be made on labels.

They compiled what they assumed was an uncontroversial statement in order to test new laws which allow products to claim they can reduce the risk of disease, subject to EU approval.

They applied for the right to state that “regular consumption of significant amounts of water can reduce the risk of development of dehydration” as well as preventing a decrease in performance.

However, last February, the European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) refused to approve the statement.

A meeting of 21 scientists in Parma, Italy, concluded that reduced water content in the body was a symptom of dehydration and not something that drinking water could subsequently control.

Now the EFSA verdict has been turned into an EU directive which was issued on Wednesday.

Ukip MEP Paul Nuttall said the ruling made the “bendy banana law” look “positively sane”.

He said: “I had to read this four or five times before I believed it. It is a perfect example of what Brussels does best. Spend three years, with 20 separate pieces of correspondence before summoning 21 professors to Parma where they decide with great solemnity that drinking water cannot be sold as a way to combat dehydration.

“Then they make this judgment law and make it clear that if anybody dares sell water claiming that it is effective against dehydration they could get into serious legal bother.

EU regulations, which aim to uphold food standards across member states, are frequently criticised.

Rules banning bent bananas and curved cucumbers [what?? - ed.] were scrapped in 2008 after causing international ridicule.

Prof Hahn, from the Institute for Food Science and Human Nutrition at Hanover Leibniz University, said the European Commission had made another mistake with its latest ruling.

“What is our reaction to the outcome? Let us put it this way: We are neither surprised nor delighted.

“The European Commission is wrong; it should have authorised the claim. That should be more than clear to anyone who has consumed water in the past, and who has not? We fear there is something wrong in the state of Europe.”

Prof Brian Ratcliffe, spokesman for the Nutrition Society, said dehydration was usually caused by a clinical condition [like hot weather and low fluid intake? - ed.] and that one could remain adequately hydrated without drinking water. [As the study was done in Italy, perhaps they had something else in mind? - ed.]

Water? Where we're going, we don't need water.

He said: “The EU is saying that this does not reduce the risk of dehydration and that is correct.

“This claim is trying to imply that there is something special about bottled water which is not a reasonable claim.”

Hard as this is to believe, the ruling is no April Fool's joke.

-- SS