QUESTION:        A physician on our medical staff has made numerous inappropriate entries into the EMR.  These include critiques of other physicians, the hospital, and its staff.  We have approached the physician several times to inform him that a patient’s medical record is not an appropriate forum for these comments, but he claims he has the First Amendment right to put whatever he wants to in the records, and continues to do so.  What can we do?

ANSWER:            The regulatory and accreditation requirements set forth by the Joint Commission and both federal and state law make it clear that they require the medical record to document objective clinical information relative to an individual patient’s medical condition that will enable a patient’s caregivers to provide the appropriate patient care.  Entering comments in a patient’s medical record that are critical of the hospital or of other individuals are inappropriate editorial statements, which do not advance the care of a patient.  In addition, they clearly create and increase legal risks to the hospital and to all individuals involved in the care of the patient.

A physician who has a complaint or concern regarding an administrative policy, the hospital’s utilization practices, or the care provided by any other individual should be advised that the medical record is not the proper forum for that issue and should be directed to register those concerns through appropriate medical staff or administrative channels.  Most times, providing this education and counseling to the physician is sufficient to resolve the concerns.  If not, however, the physician should be advised that continuing disregard of the policy concerning the proper content of medical records will be referred for review under the Medical Staff Professionalism Policy.