Boston hospital computer crash a lesson to the industry

[NEW] Finish the Toon Caption Contest! Win $100.

by NRSKarenRN , BSN, RN Moderator
Nov 20, '02   Views: 1,783   Comments: 3

  1. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's computer system crashed repeatedly over several days recently, a problem that periodically blocked access to patient records, prescriptions, laboratory reports and other information. The crash forced the hospital to revert to the paper-based systems of what one executive called "the hospital of the 1970s."

    Boston Globe, Nov. 19, 2002
    http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/323/metro/Hospital
    Last edit by NRSKarenRN on Nov 20, '02
  2. Visit NRSKarenRN profile page

    About NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN Moderator

    Joined: Oct '00; Posts: 27,548; Likes: 13,755
    Utilization Review, prior Intake Mgr Home Care; from PA , US
    Specialty: 40 year(s) of experience in Home Care, Vents, Telemetry, Home infusion

    3 Comments

    Topic Closed
  3. by llg
    Nov 20, '02
    Occupation: Nursing Professional Development + Academic Faculty Specialty: 38 year(s) of experience in Nursing Professional Development ; Joined: Sep '02; Posts: 13,483; Likes: 25,140
    It happened at a hospital I was working at years ago. No one seems to believe it will ever happen to them -- until it does.

    llg
  4. by oramar
    Nov 20, '02
    Occupation: returned nurse Joined: Nov '98; Posts: 7,097; Likes: 5,234
    Computers go down all the time at many hospitals. I think this is newsworthy because it was the most advanced system of it's type and supposed to be immune to problems. I can tell you that most of the unscheduled down times are short and the danger to patients is somewhat limited. However, after a while it gets to be a real danger and there is always some danger. The places where I worked had a lot of people around from the old days and we just went back to the old paper system until new the system came back on. However, as time passes there are fewer and fewer people around that know how to function in a non computer enviroment and that is scary. There was never a policy at any hospital I worked or a back up system to use when the computer went down. Going back to the old way was just the natural thing.
  5. by Sleepyeyes
    Nov 20, '02
    Joined: Dec '01; Posts: 3,165; Likes: 59
    We have a backup system for computer downtime. It's when the tube system goes out that we're really upset--the lab's a couple buildings away

close