Electronic Trace Data and Legal Outcomes: The Effect of Electronic Medical Records on Malpractice Claim Resolution Time

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ransbotham, Sam; Overby, Eric M.; Jernigan, Michael C.
• 署名单位: Boston College; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology; Harvard University; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Massachusetts General Hospital; Harvard University; Harvard Medical School
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2020.3725
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 4341-4361
• 关键词: electronic trace data; lawsuit resolution; electronic medical records; medical malpractice claims; electronic discovery

摘要

Information systems generate copious trace data about what individuals do and when they do it. Trace data may affect the resolution of lawsuits by, for example, changing the time needed for legal discovery. Trace data might speed resolution by clarifying what events happened when, or they might slow resolution by generating volumes of new and potentially irrelevant data that must be analyzed. To investigate this, we analyze the effect of electronic medical records (EMRs) on malpractice claim resolution time. Use of EMRs within hospitals at the time of the alleged malpractice is associated with a four-month (12%) reduction in resolution time. Because unresolved malpractice claims impose substantial costs on the entire healthcare system, our finding that EMRs are associated with faster resolution has broad welfare implications. Furthermore, as we increasingly digitize society, the ramifications of trace data on legal outcomes matter beyond the medical context.