According to the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, hospitals that process prescription orders through a CPOE (Computerized Provider Order Entry) system likely reduced their amount of prescription errors by nearly 50% in 2008. Researchers from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Massachusetts published the results of their study on February 20th.
In 2007, the Institute of Medicine estimated that the average hospital patient is a victim of at least one medication error every day. Researchers believe that handwriting the name of a medication – instead of entering it in a computer system – can lead to the prescription being misinterpreted. CPOE allows medical professionals to choose the exact medicine and dosage from drop-down menus that are guided by automatic prompts flagging potentially harmful drug interactions.
If more hospitals around the country adopted the CPOE system, the number of medical errors that could be avoided nationwide would be even more dramatic.
If you or one of your loved ones has been seriously injured because of a medication error, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area today to schedule a free case evaluation.
