Resource Center

RATIONALE: Accurate data communication during daily patient care rounds is essential yet challenging in the data-dense intensive care unit (ICU) environment. The electronic health record (EHR) is a data management tool utilized in many ICUs yet its impact on data communication during rounds is uncertain. Our previous work showed that ICU providers preparing for rounds extract only 78% of available 24-hour lab data from the EHR and accurately communicate only 61% of this information during rounds. We hypothesized that data communication failures extend to other important data domains and sought to describe these data communication vulnerabilities with the goals of improving the way providers use the EHR and optimizing EHR design.