Course description

Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in 2009, the use of electronic health records (EHRs) has become ubiquitous. From now on, one should expect virtually any medical professional liability case to involve the review of patient records produced from an EHR. When questions arise as to the integrity, validity, confidentiality, accuracy, or legitimacy of these EHRs, one often turns to the audit log for help. 

This presentation will discuss the multiple lines of defense incorporated into the design, development, implementation, and use of EHRs to ensure their integrity and the various types of EHR transaction logs, of which the audit or access log is the most prevalent, that exist. Using these audit logs, one can answer, or at least provide insight, into many questions that often arise in medical professional liability cases. 

Finally, there are numerous “best practices” surrounding the implementation and use of EHRs and audit logs that healthcare organizations should consider incorporating into their daily healthcare practices. When used appropriately, EHRs provide an excellent source of information to help healthcare organizations investigate adverse incidents and, if needed, defend their clinicians and processes.

Learning objectives

At the conclusion of this learning activity, participants will be able to:

• Identify key data elements contained in an EHR audit log
• Recognize the questions an EHR audit log can answer
• Assess the strength of your organization’s audit log-related policies and procedures

Target audience

Physician and clinician policyholders

Disclosure

There are no relevant financial relationships with ACCME-defined commercial interests for anyone who was in control of the content of this activity.

CME information

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Illinois State Medical Society and ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company. The Illinois State Medical Society is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Illinois State Medical Society designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The Illinois Nurse Practice Act rules deem CME credit provided by approved sponsors as acceptable to fulfill nursing continuing education requirements for licensure. Nurses may claim one contact hour per unit of CME in the state of Illinois.