An Observational Study of the Impact of a Computerized Physician Order Entry System on the Rate of Medication Errors in an Orthopaedic Surgery Unit

Background

To determine the impact of computer provider order entry (CPOE) on medication errors during prescription, dispensing, and administration of medications in an orthopaedic surgery unit.

Methods

In a teaching hospital in Paris, France, a before-after observational study was performed comparing the number of medication errors in prescribing, dispensing, and administration before and after the implementation of CPOE.

Results

111 patients were observed the pre- CPOE implementation period while 86 patients were observed post- CPOE implementation period. The use of CPOE had a 92% decrease in prescribing errors and a 17.5% decrease in prescribing errors. There was no significant difference found in dispensing errors.

Conclusion

The implementation of CPOE reduced the amount of prescribing and administration errors.

Comments

This study has proven that usage of CPOE in an Orthopaedic Surgery Unit reduces the amount of medication errors, which will increase patient safety and quality of care.

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