Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Using CPOE to Drive Prescribing Change

The Problem

More than one million serious medication errors occur each year in U.S. hospitals. The IOM attributes at least $3.5 billion in extra costs a year to such errors, not counting lost wages and productivity. About 10 years ago, Winthrop administrative and clinical leaders began an initiative to reduce its medication-related mishaps.

The Solution

As part of an ambitious plan to prevent medication errors, Winthrop changed the prescribing culture by initiating systemic changes. A linchpin of the effort was implementing a computerized provider order entry (CPOE) system.