CPOE integration is a must-have because physicians are busy professionals, with some seeing about 50 – 100 patients daily. One of the adverse effects of working long hours is the illegible handwriting used for many drug prescriptions. When coupled with other prescribing mistakes, handwritten orders can pose severe risks to patients.
Adopting electronic prescribing and test ordering can reduce prescribing errors and improve communication between physicians and pharmacists. Here is a brief description of this technology and the benefits that it offers.
What Is CPOE Integration?
Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) is a technology that enables physicians to place orders for drugs and medical products electronically rather than writing them by hand.
CPOE integration became popular in the 1990s as the cost of development reduced, and more medical professionals became computer literate.
Today, CPOE integration is an essential part of many EHR systems. Modern CPOE systems also include a clinical decision support system that performs dosage verification and checks for drug allergies and drug-to-drug interactions.
A modern CPOE can also flag prescriptions and drug orders that need approval from an insurance plan. This can also help providers reduce the volume of denied claims.
Benefits of CPOE Integration
When a CPOE system is integrated into a healthcare IT platform, it enhances provider efficiency and patient safety. The significant benefits of CPOE include:
1. Prevention of Lost Orders
When physicians create paper-based prescriptions, they can get lost, misplaced, or altered in transit. This may occur due to careless handling by the patient or overworked pharmacy staff.
Using electronic prescribing eliminates lost orders because the orders are prepared and sent directly to the pharmacy’s information system. The prescription can also be monitored with the automated sending of refilling requests.
2. Reduction of Medication Errors
In a survey published in their CPOE fact sheet, the Leapfrog hospital stated that adverse drug effects cause about 7,000 deaths every year. When coupled with a decision support system, a CPOE system can reduce more than half of hospitals’ medication errors.
3. Reduced Cost of Healthcare
After implementing a CPOE system, orders will be fulfilled at a faster rate. Consequently, patients will start using their medication early, resulting in shorter stays in the hospital. With the reduction in hospital stays, patients’ hospital bills will reduce significantly.
4. Compliance With Regulations
In the U.S., the Meaningful Use program, which was later called Promoting Interoperability (PI), requires the use of electronic prescriptions. To fulfill PI requirements, providers have to record more than 60-percent of the orders for drugs, lab, and radiology tests with CPOE.
More than 60-percent of the permissible prescriptions have to be checked by a drug formulary and sent to pharmacies electronically. Using a CPOE system helps to meet these regulatory requirements.
5. Improved Administration
With CPOE, pharmacies, labs, and radiology departments receive orders quickly. They also send medication and test results back faster. This enables the patient to promptly receive their medication and test services, thereby improving the quality of care.
Learn More About CPOE Integration for Your EHR
If you want to discover how to integrate CPOE into your health IT system for better efficiency or regulatory compliance, contact Lifepoint Informatics today.
We have worked on more than 20,000 projects over the last 20 years. We have the experience and expertise to meet your EHR integration needs.