Do the procedures for drug prescription and dosage using computerized physician order entry as compared to other methods like solely paper documentation lead to a reduction in medical error rate similar to that found in the literature?
Problem
The issue of interest is whether Electronic Health Record systems like Computer Physician Order Entry is more efficient in decreasing medical error rates than the paper and pencil method of ordering. Probably one of the biggest challenges these days before therapists are the decisions regarding deciding between electronic medical records (i.e., EHR) or solely paper-based documentation system or a mix of both (Halamka, 2010).
Proposed Solution:
The proposed solution is implementing CPOE. …show more content…
The focus is on the interrelation of the organizational environment and the technology. A project team was competent for the implementation of the system. This team reports to a steering group, which consisted of the leading individuals representing the medical departments and the hospital board. The steering group made significant choices about the implementation process, including the responsibility of clinical departments and the allocation of funding. A medical specialist directed the project team. His chief responsibilities were to oversee the project and to secure the ties with the medical professionals and other stakeholders within the hospital (Aarts, Doorewaard, & Berg, …show more content…
Training of all proposed administrative users, including the superusers, started approximately six months before the system became operational. Computer-based training facilities were made accessible for classroom and individual “walk-in” training. Each proposed user had to pass a computer-based examination before he or she would be assigned a password and allowed to use the system (Aarts, Doorewaard, & Berg, 2004).
Outcome Impact
Use of EBPs in U.S. healthcare has consistently revealed medical errors reduction leading to increased patient’s medication adherence, patient safety, and cost saving. The above outcomes would positively impact patient-centric care, process efficiency, result in better physician-patient communication, and improve professional expertise in delivering medical service to patients.
The hospital community was informed about the progress of implementation through articles in the hospital newsmagazine and exclusive newsletters. These items were of a human-interest nature because everybody concentrated primarily on the personal participation of individuals in the project. The newsletters carried more factual information such as descriptions of the system and its parts, the implementation plan, the progress, training, and software releases (Aarts, Doorewaard, & Berg,