A small study analysing safety risks to patients from errors and workflow disruptions caused by general practice software systems has found that while many of those risks are the same as experienced with paper records, new risks arise that are unique to IT.

These include problems of lost or missing data when transferring historical electronic records to new software packages, delays due to software updates such as monthly PBS or drug database updates, and known problems caused by overloaded drop-down menus, particularly when it comes to mixing up medication brand names.