Measure Would Require Health Care Providers To Note Changes to EHRs
A bill (SB 850) moving through California's Legislature would require health care providers to record any edits to data in patients' electronic health records and identify who made the changes, California Watch reports.
Nearly half of physician practices in the state have EHR systems, up from 14% in 2008, according to data from the California HealthCare Foundation. CHCF publishes California Healthline.
Bill Details
The bill, by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), aims to make it harder for health care providers to delete or modify data in EHRs without making a record of the changes. In addition, the legislation would enable patients who request access to their EHRs to view the modifications.
Paloma Perez -- associate legislative counsel for the Consumer Attorneys of California, which sponsored SB 850 -- said the bill aims to prevent situations in which patients' medical data is missing because of data entry errors.
The Senate passed the bill on May 31, and the Assembly's health and judiciary committees are expected to hold hearings on the measure in the coming weeks.
Concern Among Health Care Provider Groups
The California Hospital Association and the California Medical Association have expressed concern about SB 850.
In a letter to Leno, CHA wrote that it "believes the frequency of the problem addressed in this bill does not make the cost justified at this time" (Taggart, California Watch, 6/13).
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