Case Study: Ebola US Patient Zero

The article Ebola US Patient Zero: lessons on misdiagnosis and effective use of electronic health records (Upadhyay et al, 2015) highlighted potential lessons learned from the failure to diagnose the first case of Ebola in the U.S. and how the ineffective use of EHRs may have contributed to this grave error.

Use the article and your textbook readings to write a case study utilizing the following questions as a guide. This paper should be 2 3 pages in length (1.5 space, 11 font). Each of the questions should be answered and can be used to separate your writing into subsections.

1. In 2 3 sentences, summarize the problem related in this article. Why do the authors think this is a problem?

2. Chapter 4 of your text describes one of the uses of an EHR as a clinical decision support system. Identify the components of a CDSS in this case (as much as you can with the information given). How well did this EHR support decision making in this example? What worked? What didnt?

3. The authors argued that the biggest red flag, the patient himself, was overlooked and noted that they were not sure if the healthcare workers who first encountered the patient could comprehend this red flag. Considering that this was patient zero, do you believe that the health workers that first encountered this patient should have identified him as a high risk? Why or why not?

4. The authors mention that EHRs can distract clinicians and cause them to lose situational awareness (see Chapter 4). Explain.

5. Although the authors claim that the misuse of EHRs can lead to poor communication among team members and diminished capacity in basic clinical skills, they make a case for using more technology (computer algorithms within EHRs) to help clinicians reach the correct diagnosis. Do you agree? Why or why not.

6. Conclusion and next steps. (2 3 sentences)