Reducing Medical Errors

Reduce Risk for Errors
CPOE and EMR have been known to decrease medical errors. EMR help prevent unnecessary orders and diagnostic test. EMR also prevents duplication of the same test and orders. Medication are shown in the electronic medical record which providers have access to. The ability to access a patient’s medications without having to rely on just patient information will lower risk. A patient may not always be certain of a dosage or the exact name of a medication and the electronic medical record allows to provider to have the information at their fingertips. CPOE helps can help reduce the risk of medication error. A study shows that the likelihood of an error to occur decreased by forty-eight percent while using CPOE (Radley
et al., 2013). Medication errors can be a huge risk to an organization. While discussing CPOE and how it can help reduce the risk of medication error the CIO should provide results from studies that have been conducted by other organizations while using the program. A CPOE with clinical decision support system (CDSS) can be very useful for providers within an organization. The clinical decision support gives real-time support on treatment and offers tools that also help reduce errors. CDSS may have rules that check for medication contradictions, allergies, interactions, as well as renal and weight-based dosing standards (Kuperman et al., 2007).
Accommodate Regulatory Standard Expectations
While working on the plan to enforce CPOE and EMR, the organization will examine and study the regulatory standard expectations. Studying and examining the expectations will help ensure that the correct steps are being taken if approval of the systems are granted. In the year two-thousand-nine congress passed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act as part of the American Recover and Reinvestment Act of two-thousand-nine. Meaningful Use appeared after the HITECH was introduced. The concept Meaningful Use was put into place to ensure that certain outcomes where achieved. One of the outcomes of meaningful use is to ensure quality, safety and efficiency. Electronic Medical Records as well as Computerized Physician Order Entry have the tools and abilities to meet those requirements. EMRs help provide better quality care for patients by enabling providers to access more information than before which helps with patient treatment. CPOE allows for better quality, safety and efficiency by enabling tools to assist providers with medication orders, recommendations and treatments CPOE can detect errors which aides with patient safety. Overall the two systems combined have allowed many support and advances in healthcare.
Enhance Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction seems to have improved with the use of Electronic Medical Records. EMR decrease the risk for medical errors and improve the quality of care that is given. Providers can communicate better with one another, increase efficiency and share information with patients. All the mentioned qualities of the electronic medical records system enhance patient satisfaction. CPOE has also helped ensure patient satisfaction. CPOE reduces medication errors which include dosage errors and medication contradictions.
Patients are more satisfied that the provider can provide them with the necessary medication and the correct dose with a lower risk of error. When presenting the plan to the board of trustees it is important for the CIO to share information about how the programs can have a positive impact on patient satisfaction. The goal of healthcare facilities is to offer quality care and services to their patients. Implementing CPOE and EMR will allow the organization to reach the patient satisfaction goals that have been set in
place.
Standardize Processes
When creating the plan to present to the Board of Trustees it would appropriate to include the standardized process that are included with the use of the CPOE and EMR.
Standardized order sets should be put in place for providers that are using the CPOE system. The availability of standardized order sets will simplify the process of applying updates in a timely manner, and eliminate the need for printed copies at all the physician offices. Standardized templates and protocols should also be included in the plan. Standardized processes should be put in place for the EMR. Each department should work together to determine what the EMR system should include. Standardized documentation should be enforced. Standardized documentation offers information for quality patient care and initiatives. Having standardized documentation put in place helps the organization to meet regulatory requirements and helps health information management professionals to ensure that records are complete and accurate. Having standards in place also helps identify missing information that is needed for coding purposes, develop partnerships with providers, ancillary staff and information systems. A change process should also be considered. The process should include the establishment of a forms committee which will approve request and establish standard forms management policies. Each department should be part of the development of the system. The development will cover form design,
ongoing maintenance and implementation. There should be guideline put in place for new form request and announcements should be made per the availability of new forms once they have been approved. The CIO should come together with the staff to determine what process should be put into place when implementing the systems, The CIO should then present the plan to the Board of Trustees. The goal of the CIO is to use the information that is provided to encourage the board that the standardized processes will benefit the organization. Preparing the information in the plan will be helpful to the Board of Trustees when planning.