What is one of the risks associated with the practice of copying and pasting in EHRs?

One of the significant risks associated with the practice of copying and pasting in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is the potential for copying a note into the wrong patient's record. This can lead to serious issues, including misattribution of medical history, treatment plans, or test results to patients who did not receive that care. Such errors can compromise patient safety, disrupt continuity of care, and may result in inappropriate treatment decisions. This highlights the importance of maintaining accurate and individualized patient records and reinforces the need for clinicians to be vigilant when documenting in EHRs.

In contrast, while factors such as reduced documentation time and potential data saving issues can be concerns in EHR use, they do not directly relate to the integrity and accuracy of patient-specific information, which is critically important in healthcare. The possibility of misidentification of patient ownership of copied content, while a consideration, is more related to broader system issues rather than the immediate risk to patient safety that comes from incorrectly placing copied notes into a patient's record.