Physicians' computer use speeds patient care - Hospitals - Use of computerized physician order entry systems improves workflow and patient care

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Feb, 2004

Hospitals significantly may be able to reduce the time it takes to dispense medications to patients and complete X-rays and lab tests by having physicians fill out orders via computer rather than by hand, suggests an Ohio State University, Columbus, study. Results showed that computerized ordering also eliminated prescription drug errors that occurred when doctors' handwritten prescriptions were misread.

Digitizing physician orders cut turnaround times for medication by 64%, X-rays and other radiology procedures by 43%, and lab tests by 25%. Computerized physician order entry (POE) "enhances patient care by improving work flow and efficiency and by reducing transcription errors," notes Hagop Mekhjian, chief medical officer for the university's health system.

Moreover, "there weren't any significant negative results, despite the major cultural change that stemmed from introducing this new technology. In many cases, work flow accuracy and efficiency were actually enhanced."

The researchers compared data gathered prior to implementation of a computerized POE program with that collected after. Information was recorded from patient charts and also from watching doctors as they prepared written orders. After POE was in place, statistics were garnered electronically, determining how much time physicians spent on rounds, how long it took to write an order, what time an order was written, and when the order reached its intended destination, such as the pharmacy or the laboratory.

Yet, the greatest advantage of computerized POE, says Mekhjian, is the way it can speed patient care. Previous studies report that up to one-third of all hospitalized patients experience some type of lag time in their care, with the average length being needy three days. "There can be delays in decisionmaking while a physician waits for results ... in scheduling diagnostic tests, and ... in discharge planning. Entering an order into a computer can help alleviate many of these delays. It also serves as a check-and-balance system to doctors, such as reminding a physician if a prescription needs [to be] countersigned."