EHR /EMR

Electronic medical records (EMRs)

are a digital version of the paper charts in the clinician’s office.

contains the medical and treatment history of the patients in one practice.

have advantages over paper records. For example, EMRs allow clinicians to:

•Track data over time

•Easily identify which patients are due for preventive screenings or checkups

Electronic health records (EHRs)

focus on the total health of the patient—going beyond standard clinical data collected in the provider’s office and inclusive of a broader view on a patient’s care.

● are designed to reach out beyond the health organization that originally collects and compiles the information

CPOE

Computerized Prescribers Order Entry

Computerize provider order entry

is an application that allows health care providers to use a computer to directly enter medical orders electronically In inpatient and ambulatory settings, replacing the more traditional order methods of paper,  verbal, telephone, and fax.

 

●     allows provider to enter medical orders electronically.

CPOE Advantages

Improve quality, patient outcomes, safety

•Reductions in variation in care.

•Drug prescribing and administration

•Increased refill compliance through reminders and alerts.

•Improved drug dosing

•Decreased adverse drug event

•Errors of omission will be reduced

•Handwriting and interpretation issues will be eliminated

•Eliminate need to manually transport orders to pharmacy, radiology, laboratory

•Access to pertinent literature and clinical information

•Increase efficiency, productivity, cost effectiveness.

•Better use of formulary and generic drugs

•More time with patients

•Reduction in time wasted in transcribing duplicate orders

•Orders will be executed faster, medication available more quickly, patient receives prompter care.

CPOE Area of Concern

Cost of implementation: training, infrastructure, workstations, high speed internet access.

•Lack of integration between CPOE system and pharmacy system.

•Error in monitoring patient’s response to therapy if not interfaced with laboratory system.

•Complex and time consuming order entry processes leads to frustration, increase verbal order, error-prone in communicating orders.

•Error messages, frozen screens, slow access of information.

•Wrong patient error

Bar Code Enabled Point of Care (BPOC) technology

• Can improve medication safety through several levels of functionality.

• Helps to verify that the right dose is being administered to the right patient at the right dose by the right route and at the right time.

Automated Dispensing Cabinets (ADC)

• Computerized point of use medication management system that is designed to replace or support the traditional unit dose drug delivery system

Smart Infusion Pump Delivery System

Infusion pump with dose calculation software that could reduce medication errors, improve workflow, and provide a new source for continuous quality improvement by identifying and correcting pump programming errors.