A patient data exchange system that sometimes sends incomplete cardiology reports is being recalled by Philips Healthcare because it could lead to misdiagnosis. A healthcare facility reported to the Federal Drug Administration earlier this year that the Xcelera Connect product was transmitting partial reports into patients’ records, prompting the Philips recall. No patients have been known to have suffered harm as a result of the issue, according to Philips.
The issue occurs when clinicians enter data into the summary field of a heart test report, then press the “Enter” key to begin a new paragraph. This sometimes strips the subsequent text from the reports that are exported into patients’ Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), and physicians reviewing the cardiology reports wouldn’t necessarily realize that they were incomplete, possibly leading to “incorrect treatment decisions.” Philips is now in the process of updating the 226 customer systems that are affected.
Allscripts EMR software program MyWay, and McKesson’s Lytec EMR software and Medisoft EMR software, are sold by leading healthcare IT consulting firm Microwize Technology.