The Ministry of Health in an unusual message: a malfunction led to copying the wrong blood type

Another serious malfunction in the computerized medical file system in the hospitals: The Ministry of Health informs that following control and inspection processes, another unusual malfunction was found in the “Camelion” computerized medical file management system used by several hospitals. Following the malfunction, an incorrect copy of clinical information of some of the hospitalized patients was recorded.

According to the findings so far, some of the malfunctions have led to the wrong blood type being copied, misdiagnoses and incorrect labeling of procedures that were copied from patient to patient. According to the ministry, so far it has not been found that patients were harmed by the malfunctions. The extent of the defect is still under investigation.

As I recall, in February, the first malfunction occurred in the “Camelion” software from the “Elad Systems” group, which is installed in most hospitals. The malfunction then caused the erroneous addition of drugs to the list of permanent drugs in the medical file of some patients. The mistake apparently affected about 1,200 people.

The Chameleon system has been installed and operating since 2008 in about 80% of the hospitals in Israel and is used by tens to hundreds of thousands a day. Through the “Camelion” the entire process of admission in the hospital’s emergency room and treatment in the wards and clinics of the hospitals is conducted.