A new report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies states that "to significantly reduce the tens of thousands of deaths and injuries caused by medical errors every year, health care organizations must adopt information technology systems that are capable of collecting and sharing essential health information on patients and their care."
To facilitate the routine use of electronic health records, the health care sector must develop and use standardized formats for these records, which allow providers to record information about patients' health at the point of care. In addition, uniform formats and data standards for reporting information on near misses -- mishaps that were caught before harm occurred -- as well as events caused by mistakes must be developed and adopted so that the industry can learn how to prevent future errors.
Here is the full report Patient Safety: Achieving a New Standard for Care