A new study from the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center has found significant discrepancies between what symptoms patients at ophthalmology clinics report pre-exam compared to what was documented in their electronic medical record (EMR).
Researchers reportedly analyzed the symptoms of 162 Kellogg patients, who were all asked to complete a 10-point survey before seeing their physician. The practitioners treating the patients were not old about the survey, nor that their record-keeping would be reviewed for comparison.
Upon review, researchers found an "exact agreement" between a patient's survey and what was documented in their medical record occurred in only 38 patients. According to researchers, symptom reporting drove the inconsistencies between the surveys and medical records — for example, of patients reporting a concern about glare on their surveys, 91 percent did not have it document on their medical record. For those complaining of eye redness, 80 percent were not mentioned on the medical record. And 74.4 percent of patients with an eye pain concern on their survey did not have it documented on their record.
Researchers believe these discrepancies could have implications for patient health as they lead to a poor representation of the patient's reported problems, and could provide an incomplete picture of a patient's symptoms for other doctors treating them in the future. They believe improved lines of communication between patients and doctors should be considered, such as implementing pre-appointment symptom questionnaires similar to those used in the study.
The study was recently published in JAMA Ophthalmology.
Click here to read the full press release from the University of Michigan.
Click here to read the full press release from The JAMA Network.
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Source: University of Michigan