Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Software “glitches” that lead to medical mishaps and prolonged infusions of drugs such as heparin administered to patients at Veterans Affairs hospitals throughout the U.S., which was reported by the Associated Press earlier this week, have raised concerns from the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, according to a new report by AP. Nearly one-third of the country’s 153 VA hospitals reported problems with the electronic medical records.

Calling the findings a sign of “dangerous lack of accountability,” Rep. Bob Filner said he would investigate the matter that put the safety of VA patients risk. “VA continues to discover problems and attempts to fix them quietly and internally, and then downplays them as inconsequential and nonthreatening,” Rep. Filner told AP. “No one expects new software to operate perfectly, but confidence must be inherent in any electronic medical records system.”

When the VA moved from a paper system for medical records to an electronic one, the process was designed to reduce human error. However, between August 2008 and December 2008, there were reports of patients receiving incorrect doses of medications, including cases where heparin was given to patients for up to 11 hours longer than necessary. Other errors included medications and vital signs showing up on the wrong patient’s medical charts. Health experts say that errors like these prove that more careful monitor needs to be done to prevent future errors.

“VA bureaucrats consistently refuse to provide necessary information regarding the serious problems that affect veterans and this pattern of secrecy is disconcerting and does enormous harm,” Filner told AP. “Oversight of this incident will continue.”

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