SynthesisApplied clinical informatics2017
Safe Practices for Copy and Paste in the EHR. Systematic Review, Recommendations, and Novel Model for Health IT Collaboration.
Synthesis in Applied clinical informatics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Data Quality-Driven Improvement in Health Care: Systematic Literature Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Can Checklists Solve Our Ward Round Woes? A Systematic Review.World journal of surgery · 2022Pooled it
- Clinicians' reasoning as reflected in electronic clinical note-entry and reading/retrieval: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2019Pooled it
- The Growing Use of Copy-Paste and Its Impact on Creation and Propagation of Documentation Errors.CHEST pulmonary · 2026Article
- AI Scribe Safety: Measuring What Happens After Signing.JMIR medical informatics · 2026Article
- The Effect of Ambient Artificial Intelligence Documentation on Clinician Workload, Efficiency, and Patient Experience in a Multisite Emergency Department Network.Applied clinical informatics · 2026Observational
- Challenges in Identifying Heart Failure Diagnoses from the Electronic Health Record.Journal of cardiac failure - intersections · 2026Article
- Thinking critically about AI documentation quality in primary care.BMJ quality & safety · 2026Article
- Charting Tomorrow: A Practical Review of Artificial Intelligence in Medical Documentation.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2026Article
- Toward Safer Diagnoses: A SEIPS-Based Narrative Review of Diagnostic Errors.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Evaluating Frailty Index Integrity: Insights from an International Network Study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Reducing Preventive-to-E/M Code Conversion Using a Diagnosis-Triggered Documentation Template.Advances in health information science and practice · 2026Observational
- Words Matter: Content Analysis of Language Used When Documenting in the Medical Records of Patients in Mental Health.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Article
- Copy Tools in the Electronic Health Record: Perceptions, Implications, and Future Directions.JMIR medical informatics · 2025Article
- Exploring Provider Perceptions and Attitudes toward Copy-Paste and Copy-Forward in Clinical Documentation.Applied clinical informatics · 2025Article
- Lost in transcription - how accurately are we documenting the surgical ward round?ANZ journal of surgery · 2025Observational
- Red teaming ChatGPT in medicine to yield real-world insights on model behavior.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Article
- Addressing Note Bloat: Solutions for Effective Clinical Documentation.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2025Article
- Nurses' Perceptions and Recommendations on the Safe Use of "Copy and Paste" Function in an Electronic Medical Record of a National Tertiary Hospital.Acta medica Philippina · 2025Article
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCopy and paste functionality can support efficiency during clinical documentation, but may promote inaccurate documentation with risks for patient safety. The Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety was formed to gather data, conduct analysis, educate, and disseminate safe practices for safer care using health information technology (IT).
objectiveTo characterize copy and paste events in clinical care, identify safety risks, describe existing evidence, and develop implementable practice recommendations for safe reuse of information via copy and paste.
methodsThe Partnership 1) reviewed 12 reported safety events, 2) solicited expert input, and 3) performed a systematic literature review (2010 to January 2015) to identify publications addressing frequency, perceptions/attitudes, patient safety risks, existing guidance, and potential interventions and mitigation practices.
resultsThe literature review identified 51 publications that were included. Overall, 66% to 90% of clinicians routinely use copy and paste. One study of diagnostic errors found that copy and paste led to 2.6% of errors in which a missed diagnosis required patients to seek additional unplanned care. Copy and paste can promote note bloat, internal inconsistencies, error propagation, and documentation in the wrong patient chart. Existing guidance identified specific responsibilities for authors, organizations, and electronic health record (EHR) developers. Analysis of 12 reported copy and paste safety events was congruent with problems identified from the literature review.
conclusionDespite regular copy and paste use, evidence regarding direct risk to patient safety remains sparse, with significant study limitations. Drawing on existing evidence, the Partnership developed four safe practice recommendations: 1) Provide a mechanism to make copy and paste material easily identifiable; 2) Ensure the provenance of copy and paste material is readily available; 3) Ensure adequate staff training and education; 4) Ensure copy and paste practices are regularly monitored, measured, and assessed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.