Computerised orders reduce medicine errors
Using computerised orders, rather than handwritten ones, reduces prescribing errors by as much as two thirds, a study suggests.
Researchers from the University of Minnesota’s school of public
health examined 12 studies comparing prescribing medicine errors in hand-written
and computerised physician orders. They found that the use of computerised
orders was associated with a 66 per cent reduction in total prescribing
errors in adults. Larger benefits of computerised orders were seen when
there has been higher level of errors in the handwritten orders.
However, the authors warn readers against drawing unwarranted conclusions
from their findings. “Despite a significant reduction in medication
errors in most studies, the results should be interpreted with caution.
Nonrandomised uncontrolled interventions may provide biased overestimated
effects of computerised physician order entry that are difficult to use
for evidence-based decision making.”
In addition, they say, it is hard to generalise the impact of the introduction
of computerised physician order entry systems in the 12 studies examined. “As
is often the case with innovations, they were primarily conducted in
teaching hospitals,” they explain. “Computerised physician
order entry’s effects in more typical practice settings where the
level of care may be different remains to be determined.”
The authors also point out that replacing handwritten notes does not
eliminate errors. They recommend research into other error reduction
techniques, such as changes to clinical pharmacy and drug administration
systems.
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Hospital
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