Application of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis to Improve the Quality of the Front Page of Electronic Medical Records in China: Cross-Sectional Data Mapping Analysis

Background The completeness and accuracy of the front pages of electronic medical records (EMRs) are crucial for evaluating hospital performance and for health insurance payments to inpatients. However, the quality of the first page of EMRs in China's medical system is not satisfactory, which can be partly attributed to deficiencies in the EMR system. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a proactive risk management tool that can be used to investigate the potential failure modes in an EMR system and analyze the possible consequences. Objective The purpose of this study was to preemptively identify the potential failures of the EMR system in China and their causes and effects in order to prevent such failures from recurring. Further, we aimed to implement corresponding improvements to minimize system failure modes. Methods From January 1, 2020, to May 31, 2022, 10 experts, including clinicians, engineers, administrators, and medical record coders, in Zhejiang People’s Hospital conducted FMEA to improve the quality of the front page of the EMR. The completeness and accuracy of the front page and the risk priority numbers were compared before and after the implementation of specific improvement measures. Results We identified 2 main processes and 6 subprocesses for improving the EMR system. We found that there were 13 potential failure modes, including data messaging errors, data completion errors, incomplete quality control, and coding errors. A questionnaire survey administered to random physicians and coders showed 7 major causes for these failure modes. Therefore, we established quality control rules for medical records and embedded them in the system. We also integrated the medical insurance system and the front page of the EMR on the same interface and established a set of intelligent front pages in the EMR management system. Further, we revamped the quality management systems such as communicating with physicians regularly and conducting special training seminars. The overall accuracy and integrity rate of the front page (P<.001) of the EMR increased significantly after implementation of the improvement measures, while the risk priority number decreased. Conclusions In this study, we were able to identify the potential failure modes in the front page of the EMR system by using the FMEA method and implement corresponding improvement measures in order to minimize recurring errors in the health care services in China.