Nonstandard Abbreviations and the EMR

AHRQ recently reported a case where a patient was labeled as having had a PE, presumed to mean PULMONARY EMBOLUS, several years earlier when in fact she had only had a PHYSICAL EXAM.

This illustrates the error in assuming that just because we now have EMRs that can be accessed by other physicians than the PCP, we all of a sudden have more accurate health histories available

“Garbage in, garbage out”.

via AHRQ WebM&M: Morbidity & Mortality Rounds on the Web.