Computerized Doctor's Orders Reduce Medication Errors

U.S. hospitals that switched to a computerized physician order entry system (CPOE) saw a 66 percent drop in prescription errors, according to a new review of studies.

SPH researchers reviewed 12 studies conducted between 1990 and 2005 that compared the error rates associated with handwritten and computerized medication orders made by hospital physicians. The review was recently published in the journal Health Services Research.

Nearly 25 percent of all hospital patients experience medication errors, a rate that has skyrocketed from 5 percent in 1992. Each year, more than one-half million patients sustain injuries or die in hospitals from adverse events, costing up to $5.6 million per hospital.

"Patient safety is society’s ultimate goal," says SPH research associate Tatyana Shamliyan, lead review author. "Evidence from these studies shows that computerized systems can reduce mistakes, but unfortunately only a small proportion of hospitals have implemented these systems. There is a lot of work to be done."

Medication errors--which include prescribing the wrong drug, ordering an inaccurate dosage, or administering a drug at the wrong time--dropped by as much as 66 percent in hospitals with computerized systems. Physician ordering and transcription errors account for more than 60 percent of medication errors.

"Medication errors are a central aspect of improving hospital safety. CPOE can help that process," says SPH professor Robert Kane, review co-author. "Hospitals would be shortsighted not to use it."