Hospitals Prescribe IT for Medication Errors
The hospitals recorded a 64.5 percent reduction in medication errors from 1993, the year before the system was installed, says Chris Tucker, a pharmacy specialist for the VA’s Eastern Kansas Healthcare System. "We’re way ahead of the game because very few facilities have these capabilities." The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a Huntingdon Valley, Pa.-based nonprofit group that works to prevent medication errors through education of health-care practitioners, hopes the scanners will catch on. According to its studies, handheld devices and bar-coded scanning could further reduce medication errors.
One Step Ahead
Bartel navigates Dana-Farber’s order-entry system with ease. Demonstrating how the system catches errors, she types in a chemotherapy drug and dosage level. The computer quickly sends a warning message and flashes, "This drug not contained in protocol." To override the computer, a senior physician must provide a reason. Before 1995, doctors wrote out chemotherapy prescriptions by hand, and nurses checked protocols contained in three-ring binders. "It’s hard to believe we ever did this another way," Bartel says.
An early adopter of computerized order-entry systems, Dana-Farber is looking to stay ahead by continually updating its systems. In the coming years, hospital officials plan to upgrade the chemotherapy order-entry system in conjunction with Brigham and Women’s and Mass. General hospitals. By early 2001, they plan to install a pediatric order-entry system, as well as an electronic medical record on a secure Web-based system. They are also considering bar-coding scanners, similar to those used at VA hospitals.
Even medical centers that have lagged behind in technology adoption may soon have little choice but to follow leaders like Dana-Farber, LDS Hospital and the VA system. "The wave is just starting to build," says Bagian. "There were early adopters, and now a lot of people are coming to the party. The aviation industry and others have learned to use technology as a tool to set up systems that prevent errors. Health care isn’t yet on the same map."
