AAAAI Position Statement on Changing Electronic Health Record Allergy Documentation to "Alerts" to Lead to Easily Understood, Actionable Labels

Abstract

The term "allergy" is inaccurate for the vast majority of the contents in the current allergy fields of electronic health records (EHRs). While EHRs have transformed access to health information and streamlined the delivery of care, their ability to reliably indicate medications, vaccines, or foods that mandate avoidance versus preferences or mild intolerances, is suboptimal. The current systems are reactive instead of being proactive and frequently fail to communicate the appropriate course of action. This Position Statement of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) advocates for a change in terminology. The section of the EHR currently labeled "allergies" should be renamed "alerts." The term "alert" accurately captures the purpose of this section without incorrectly assigning an allergic mechanism, and prioritizes easily understood and actionable labels. This change has the potential to simultaneously improve patient safety and care. This shift will be the first step in the transformation of the alerts section of the EHR. This document provides a framework for categorizing what should be included in this section. Enacting these changes will require EHR and clinical decision support vendors, healthcare and data standard regulators, allergists, and the larger health care community to work together to bring about these important advances.

Keywords: Alerts; Allergies; Contraindications; Drug allergy; Drug hypersensitivity; Electronic health record (EHR); Intolerances; Preferences; Warnings.