Evaluating the Impact of Patient Photographs for Preventing Wrong-Patient Errors

Summary

This is a multi-site, 4-arm randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of patient photographs displayed in electronic health record (EHR) systems to prevent wrong-patient order errors. The study will be conducted at several academic medical centers that utilize two different EHR systems. Because EHR systems have different functionality for displaying patient photographs, two different study designs will be employed. In Allscripts EHR, a 2-arm randomized trial will be conducted in which providers are randomized to view order verification alerts with versus without patient photographs when placing electronic orders. In Epic EHR, a 2x2 factorial trial will be conducted in which providers are randomized to one of four conditions: 1) no photograph; 2) photograph displayed in the banner only; 3) photograph displayed in a verification alert only; or 4) photograph displayed in the banner and verification alert. The main hypothesis of this study is that displaying patient photographs in the EHR will significantly reduce the frequency of wrong-patient order errors, providing health systems with the evidence needed to adopt this safety practice.

Conditions

• Medical Errors
• Electronic Medical Records

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Photo in Verification Alert

Patient photograph displayed in a patient ID verification alert when placing electronic orders in the electronic health record.

BEHAVIORAL

Photo in Banner

Patient photograph will be displayed in the banner at the top of the screen in the electronic health record.

BEHAVIORAL

Photo in Banner and Verification Alert

Patient photograph will be displayed in the banner at the top of the screen in the electronic health record AND patient photograph displayed in a patient ID verification alert when placing electronic orders in the electronic health record.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

  collaborator FED

• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

  collaborator NIH

• Montefiore Medical Center

  collaborator OTHER

• Brigham and Women's Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Columbia University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jason S. Adelman, MD, MS · Columbia University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-11-16

Primary Completion

2023-10-01

Completion

2024-04-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations