The Pitt's Biggest Season 2 Plotline Is Something That Happens A Lot, Says A Real ER Doctor
TVLine • • entertainment
Key Points:
- The medical drama "The Pitt" features a recurring plot where the hospital's electronic medical records (EMR) system goes down, a situation that real emergency room doctors say is not uncommon in actual hospitals.
- ER doctor J Mack Slaughter revealed that EMR outages can last from 20 minutes to three hours and are considered a routine, though highly disruptive, part of hospital operations.
- These outages often occur during critical times, causing chaos as staff must revert to manual record-keeping without the usual electronic safety checks, such as allergy alerts and medication interaction warnings.
- Dr. Slaughter emphasized that despite the challenges, there is currently no streamlined solution to prevent these scheduled or emergency EMR shutdowns, which significantly hinder patient care in emergency departments.
- The ongoing issue highlights the need for improvements in hospital IT systems, with hopes that future seasons of "The Pitt" will depict fewer such outages.
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