Impact of computerized provider order entry system on medication prescribing errors in hospital wards: a comparative study.

Q3 Medicine
Medical Journal of Malaysia Pub Date : 2025-03-01
C Y Saw, A K Nadzirah, N S Nagappan, W Joan, M T Lim
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Medication errors are a major concern in healthcare, threatening patient safety and increasing costs. These errors can occur at various stages, from prescribing to dispensing and administration. Among these, prescribing errors are particularly critical as they occur at the initial step of medication use process and can propagate downstream, potentially leading to adverse events. Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems, with integrated clinical decision support tools offer significant benefits over handwritten prescriptions including enhanced legibility, prescription completeness, standardization, a comprehensive audit trail and real-time alerts and reminders to assist prescribers during the prescribing process. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a CPOE system with clinical decision support features in reducing prescribing errors across the hospital. It compares the rates and error types between electronic and handwritten prescriptions over different time periods following the CPOE implementation.

Materials and methods: This retrospective comparative analysis examines inpatient prescription data collected from the same hospital wards during three distinct periods: 1st January to 31st March 2023 (59,663 handwritten prescriptions), 1st October to 31st December 2023 (43,363 electronic prescriptions at 3 months post-CPOE implementation) and 1st January to 31st March 2024 (44,317 electronic prescriptions at 6 months post-CPOE implementation). The CPOE system was implemented in July 2023.

Results: The CPOE system significantly reduced medication prescribing errors (3 months post-CPOE: n=832, 1.92%; 6 months post-CPOE: n=617, 1.39%) compared to handwritten prescriptions (n=3532, 5.92%). The odds of errors occurring 3 months and 6 months post-CPOE implementation were 65% and 75% lower, respectively, than during the handwritten phase [Odds Ratio (OR), 0.35; 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 0.32 - 0.38] and [OR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.23 - 0.28]. Potential error sources associated with handwritten prescriptions, such as illegible prescriptions, non-standard abbreviations and incomplete prescriptions, were entirely eliminated with CPOE adoption. Significant differences in error types were observed between handwritten and electronic prescriptions (p<0.001). However, errors related to incorrect dosage, frequency and unit of measurement increased under the CPOE system compared to handwritten prescriptions (p<0.001). A significant reduction in odds occurred with wrong unit of measurement [OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.52 - 0.72) followed by frequency errors [OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.47 - 0.73) from the 3 months to 6 months post-CPOE implementation. Non-significant reductions or increments in odds were observed for other error types including wrong dosage, wrong route, wrong form, wrong strength and wrong or inappropriate drugs between the two 3-month post-CPOE periods.

Conclusion: The implementation of the CPOE system has significantly minimized the factors contributing to medication prescribing errors associated with handwritten prescriptions. However, the CPOE-related errors can still occur and may persist or change over time. To further improve prescribing safety, it is essential to address the factors contributing to these errors and periodically assess them to minimize the gap. Future studies should explore additional aspects of medication safety such as prescriber knowledge, types of medicines prescribed, long term error patterns and contextual factors including disease complexity across clinical settings, particularly with the integration of advanced clinical decision support tools.

计算机化提供者订单输入系统对医院病房药物处方错误的影响:一项比较研究。
用药错误是医疗保健中的一个主要问题,威胁着患者的安全并增加了成本。这些错误可能发生在各个阶段,从处方到配药和给药。其中,处方错误尤其重要,因为它们发生在药物使用过程的初始阶段,并可能向下游传播,可能导致不良事件。计算机化的医生处方输入(CPOE)系统与集成的临床决策支持工具相比,具有手写处方的显著优势,包括增强的易读性、处方完整性、标准化、全面的审计跟踪以及在处方过程中协助处方者的实时警报和提醒。本研究旨在评估具有临床决策支持功能的CPOE系统在减少整个医院的处方错误方面的有效性。它比较了在CPOE实现后的不同时间段内电子处方和手写处方之间的比率和错误类型。材料和方法:本回顾性比较分析分析了同一医院病房在三个不同时期收集的住院患者处方数据:2023年1月1日至3月31日(59,663张手写处方),2023年10月1日至12月31日(实施cpoe后3个月的43,363张电子处方)和2024年1月1日至3月31日(实施cpoe后6个月的44,317张电子处方)。CPOE系统于2023年7月实施。结果:CPOE系统显著降低了用药处方错误(CPOE后3个月:n=832, 1.92%;cpoe后6个月:n=617, 1.39%),而手写处方(n=3532, 5.92%)。cpoe实施后3个月和6个月的错误发生率分别比手写阶段低65%和75%[优势比(OR), 0.35;95%置信区间(CI), 0.32 - 0.38]和[OR, 0.25;95% ci, 0.23 - 0.28]。采用CPOE完全消除了与手写处方相关的潜在错误来源,如难以辨认的处方、不标准的缩写和不完整的处方。手写处方与电子处方的错误类型差异显著(p)结论:CPOE系统的实施显著减少了手写处方相关的用药错误因素。然而,与cpoe相关的错误仍然可能发生,并且可能持续存在或随着时间的推移而改变。为了进一步提高处方安全性,必须解决导致这些错误的因素,并定期对其进行评估,以尽量减少差距。未来的研究应该探索药物安全的其他方面,如开处方者的知识、所开药物的类型、长期错误模式和环境因素,包括临床环境中的疾病复杂性,特别是与先进的临床决策支持工具的整合。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Medical Journal of Malaysia
Medical Journal of Malaysia Medicine-Medicine (all)
CiteScore
1.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
165
期刊介绍: Published since 1890 this journal originated as the Journal of the Straits Medical Association. With the formation of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), the Journal became the official organ, supervised by an editorial board. Some of the early Hon. Editors were Mr. H.M. McGladdery (1960 - 1964), Dr. A.A. Sandosham (1965 - 1977), Prof. Paul C.Y. Chen (1977 - 1987). It is a scientific journal, published quarterly and can be found in medical libraries in many parts of the world. The Journal also enjoys the status of being listed in the Index Medicus, the internationally accepted reference index of medical journals. The editorial columns often reflect the Association''s views and attitudes towards medical problems in the country. The MJM aims to be a peer reviewed scientific journal of the highest quality. We want to ensure that whatever data is published is true and any opinion expressed important to medical science. We believe being Malaysian is our unique niche; our priority will be for scientific knowledge about diseases found in Malaysia and for the practice of medicine in Malaysia. The MJM will archive knowledge about the changing pattern of human diseases and our endeavours to overcome them. It will also document how medicine develops as a profession in the nation. We will communicate and co-operate with other scientific journals in Malaysia. We seek articles that are of educational value to doctors. We will consider all unsolicited articles submitted to the journal and will commission distinguished Malaysians to write relevant review articles. We want to help doctors make better decisions and be good at judging the value of scientific data. We want to help doctors write better, to be articulate and precise.
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