Intercepting medication errors

UnitedHealthcare is a member of the Leapfrog Group, a coalition of more than 150 public and private organizations that purchase health care benefits and partners with medical experts throughout the U.S. Together, they set standards to improve hospital systems and address quality of care issues, including the prevalence of drug errors. The group requires participating providers to use certain safety standards, including Computer Physician Order Entry (CPOE).

CPOE is an electronic prescribing system that intercepts medication errors when a prescription is ordered—the time when most errors occur.  Each order is screened against patient data and checked for potential problems, including drug interactions and allergies.  CPOE virtually eliminates pharmacist confusion about similar sounding drug names, and helps to make communication between doctors and pharmacists more efficient. 

After implementing CPOE, serious medication errors declined by 88% at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s hospital. John Birkmeyer M.D., Chief of Surgery and health services researcher at Dartmouth Medical School, estimates that installing CPOE in hospitals across the U.S. could prevent more than 500,000 serious medication errors each year. 

Despite these benefits, many hospitals have not yet implemented CPOE, citing the cost of installing the system as an obstacle.  In fact, fewer than 2 percent of hospitals currently utilize CPOE.  By creating incentives for hospitals to invest in CPOE, the Leapfrog Group is helping promote this potentially life-saving technology.

For more information about the Leapfrog Group, visit http://www.leapfroggroup.org/