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Dean F. Sittig, PhD; Hardeep Singh, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2009;302(10):1111-1113.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Computers can improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of health care.¹ The pressure on hospitals and physicians to adopt electronic health records (EHRs) has never been greater. However, concerns have been raised about the safety of EHRs in light of the limitations of currently available software, the inexperience of clinicians and information technologists in implementation and use, and potential adverse outcomes associated with clinician order entry and other clinical applications.^2-4

President Obama has referred to EHRs as a solution to reduce medical errors. To avoid medical errors resulting from EHR use and to achieve the promise of EHRs, this Commentary proposes 8 rights of safe EHR use. These rights are grounded in Carayon's Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety,⁵ a human factors engineering model that addresses work-system design for patient safety.

Right Hardware or Software

An EHR system must be capable of supporting required clinical activities. . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences and the UT-Memorial Hermann Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety, Houston (Dr Sittig); Houston VA Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence and The Center of Inquiry to Improve Outpatient Safety Through Effective Electronic Communication, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Section of Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston (Dr Singh).

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