Malfunctions continue to plague software in Israeli hospitals

Health Ministry officials said that 120 hospital patients were exposed to incorrect prescriptions.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israel’s Health Ministry reported another malfunction in software used by many of the country’s hospitals on Wednesday morning.

Hospitals using the software have been instructed to back up patients’ medication lists in a manual sheet.

The software, called Chameleon, provides doctors with an overview of all the patients in a given department, along with treatment status, test results and more. The software is used in government hospitals and hospitals belonging to Clalit, Israel’s largest healthcare provider.

The Health Ministry received initial reports from one hospital about errors in patient records in mid-January. Of particular concern were patient discharge documents containing incorrect prescriptions. As the ministry received similar reports from other hospitals, it ordered an investigation.

The ministry directed the hospitals to verify medicines administered or prescribed to patients. It also recommended that anyone hospitalized in the last two months see their doctor to verify the prescriptions in their discharge letters.

Health Ministry officials told the Knesset Health Committee on Monday that 120 hospital patients were exposed to incorrect prescriptions.

Tzafrir Kagan, CEO of Elad Solutions, which developed the software, told the committee that the system is installed and operated in about 80% of the hospitals in Israel, and that the wide and varied use of the system may have caused the malfunction.