The importance of CPOE adoption

No discussion about the future of healthcare technology can be complete without talking about computerized physician order entries. A recent study conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality confirmed that CPOEs can prevent up to 57 percent of prescribing errors. And last September, the Leapfrog Group named 33 hospitals to a list of top safety performers, requiring that all of them have a fully-functioning CPOE system in place--with 75 percent of all medication orders going through such systems.

CPOE use is more than just an issue of safety, though. The Massachusetts CPOE Initiative determined last year that once hospitals throughout the state implement this technology, within 26 months, each facility will be able to save $2.7 million; the state as a whole will save $170 million per year.

Despite all of this, the potential for problems still remains. Kathleen Chavanu and Linda Talley, both of Children's National Medical Center, will discuss some of those problems--medication errors related to high-risk medications being one of the main ones--at a session entitled "Responding to Risk in a Computerized Provider Order Entry Environment," on Monday, April 6 at 1 p.m.

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