The impact of computerized physician order entry on medication errors and adverse drug events.

OBJECTIVES: Medication errors and adverse drug events (ADEs) are common, costly, and clinically important problems. This research was conducted to determine whether computerized physician order entry (CPOE) improves the quality of care by increasing patient safety and decreasing medication errors at the King Fahad Medical City Hospital (KFMCH) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

METHODS: The study utilized a cross-sectional research design. Questionnaires were distributed to physicians in various departments who used the system for more than six months. The study was conducted in Riyadh at KFMCH, which is the largest medical complex hospital in the Middle East, in the outpatient setting.

KEY FINDINGS: Ninety-three physicians participated in the study; the response rate was 31 percent. Only descriptive analyses were conducted. Results showed that 88 percent of the physicians agreed that the use of CPOE improved their performance and 76 percent reported that the use of CPOE increased their productivity. In addition, 56 percent of the participants agreed that CPOE was a simple system and 64 percent reported that it was easy to use. However, 44 percent of the physicians agreed that CPOE lacked a user guide during medication ordering and 55 percent reported that it created new types of errors. Results showed that 234 physicians always changed their order, 179 physicians changed their order often, 175 physicians rarely changed their order, and 74 physicians never changed their order. Furthermore, 72 percent of the physicians agreed that CPOE helped them to decrease ADEs. Finally, 91 percent of the physicians agreed that CPOE reduced errors related to hand-written prescriptions.