Errors in the administration of medication in inpatient hospitals: A systematic review of the research literature on commercial computerized physician order entry systems
Abstract
Errors in the administration of medication represent a significant loss of medical resources and pose life altering or life threatening risks to patients. This paper considered the question, what impact do Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) systems have on medication errors in the hospital inpatient environment? Previous reviews have examined evidence of the impact of CPOE on medication errors, but have come to ambiguous conclusions as to the impact of CPOE and decision support systems (DSS). Forty-three papers were identified. Thirty-one demonstrated a significant reduction in prescribing error rates for all or some drug types; decreases in minor errors were most often reported. Several studies reported increases in the rate of duplicate orders and failures to remove contraindicated drugs, often attributed to inappropriate design or to an inability to operate the system properly. The evidence on the effectiveness of CPOE to reduce errors in medication administration is compelling though it is limited by modest study sample sizes and designs.
Subject Area
Information Technology|Health care management
Recommended Citation
Glover, Jeffery, "Errors in the administration of medication in inpatient hospitals: A systematic review of the research literature on commercial computerized physician order entry systems" (2011). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI1505113.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI1505113