Technology-induced errors associated with computerized provider order entry software for older patients

Characteristics of pharmacist's interventions triggered by prescribing errors related to computerised physician order entry in French hospitals: a cross-sectional observational study

OBJECTIVES

Computerised physician order entry (CPOE) systems facilitate the review of medication orders by pharmacists. Reports have emerged that show conception flaws or the misuse of CPOE systems generate prescribing errors. We aimed to characterise pharmacist interventions (PIs) triggered by prescribing errors identified as system-related errors (PISREs) in French hospitals.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional observational study based on PIs prospectively documented in the Act-IP observatory database from January 2014 to December 2018.

SETTING

PISREs from 319 French computerised healthcare facilities were analysed.

PARTICIPANTS

Among the 319 French hospitals, 232 (72.7%) performed SRE interventions, involving 652 (51%) pharmacists.

RESULTS

Among the 331 678 PIs recorded, 27 058 were qualified as due to SREs (8.2%). The main drug-related problems associated with PISREs were supratherapeutic (27.5%) and subtherapeutic dosage (17.2%), non-conformity with guidelines/contraindications (22.4%) and improper administration (17.9%). The PI prescriber acceptation rate was 78.9% for SREs vs 67.6% for other types of errors. The PISRE ratio was estimated relative to the total number of PIs. Concerning the certification status of CPOE systems, the PISRE ratio was 9.4% for non-certified systems vs 5.5% for certified systems (p<0.001). The PISRE ratio for senior pharmacists was 9.2% and that for pharmacy residents 5.4% (p<0.001). Concerning prescriptions made by graduate prescribers and those made by residents, the PISRE ratio was 8.4% and 7.8%, respectively (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Computer-related prescribing errors are common. The PI acceptance rate by prescribers was higher than that observed for PIs that were not CPOE related. This suggests that physicians consider the potential clinical consequences of SREs for patients to be more frequently serious than interventions unrelated to CPOE. CPOE medication review requires continual pharmacist diligence to catch these errors. The significantly lower PISRE ratio for certified software should prompt patient safety agencies to undertake studies to identify the safest software and discard software that is potentially dangerous.

Evaluating the relationship between health information technology and safer-prescribing in the long-term care setting: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of health information technology (HIT) as an adjunct to increase safety and quality in healthcare applications is well known. There is a relationship between the use of HIT and safer-prescribing practices in long-term care.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this systematic review is to determine an association between the use of HIT and the improvement of prescription administration in long-term care facilities.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted using the MEDLINE and CINAHL databases. With the use of certain key terms, 66 articles were obtained. Each article was then reviewed by two researchers to determine if the study was germane to the research objective. If both reviewers agreed with using the article, it became a source for our review. The review was conducted and structured based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

RESULTS

The researchers identified 14 articles to include in a group for analysis from North America, Europe, and Australia. Electronic health records and electronic medication administration records were the two most common forms of technological interventions (6 of 14, 43%). Reduced risk, decreased error, decreased missed dosage, improved documentation, improved clinical process, and stronger clinical focus comprised 92% of the observations.

CONCLUSIONS

HIT has shown beneficial effects for many healthcare organizations. Long-term care facilities that implemented health information technologies, have shown reductions in adverse drug events caused by medication errors overall reduced risk to the organization. The implementation of new technologies did not increase the time nurses spent on medication rounds.

Mapping of drug-related problems among older adults conciliating medical and pharmaceutical approaches

PURPOSE

To lay the fundamentals of drug-related problems (DRPs) in older adults, and to organize them according to a logical process conciliating medical and pharmaceutical approaches, to better identify the causes and consequences of DRPs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A narrative overview.

RESULTS

The causes of DRPs may be intentional or unintentional. They lie in poor prescription, poor adherence, medication errors (MEs) and substance use disorders (SUD). Poor prescription encompasses sub-optimal or off-label drug choice; this choice is either intentional or unintentional, often within a polypharmacy context and not taking sufficiently into account the patient's clinical condition. Poor adherence is often the consequence of a complicated administration schedule. This review shows that MEs are not the most frequent causes of DRPs. SUD are little studied in older adults and needs to be more investigated because the use of psychoactive substances among older people is frequent. Prescribers, pharmacists, nurses, patients, and caregivers all play a role in different causes of DRPs. The potential deleterious outcomes of DRPs result from adverse drug reactions and therapeutic failures. These can lead to a negative benefit-risk ratio for a given treatment regimen.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION

Interdisciplinary pharmacotherapy programs show significant clinical impacts in preventing or resolving adverse drug events and, suboptimal responses. New technologies also seem to be interesting solutions to prevent MEs. Better communication between healthcare professionals, patients and their caregivers would ensure greater safety and effectiveness of treatments.

Perceptual Gaps Between Clinicians and Technologists on Health Information Technology-Related Errors in Hospitals: Observational Study

BACKGROUND

Health information technology (HIT) has been widely adopted in hospital settings, contributing to improved patient safety. However, many types of medical errors attributable to information technology (IT) have negatively impacted patient safety. The continued occurrence of many errors is a reminder that HIT software testing and validation is not adequate in ensuring errorless software functioning within the health care organization.

OBJECTIVE

This pilot study aims to classify technology-related medical errors in a hospital setting using an expanded version of the sociotechnical framework to understand the significant differences in the perceptions of clinical and technology stakeholders regarding the potential causes of these errors. The paper also provides some recommendations to prevent future errors.

METHODS

Medical errors were collected from previous studies identified in leading health databases. From the main list, we selected errors that occurred in hospital settings. Semistructured interviews with 5 medical and 6 IT professionals were conducted to map the events on different dimensions of the expanded sociotechnical framework.

RESULTS

Of the 2319 identified publications, 36 were included in the review. Of the 67 errors collected, 12 occurred in hospital settings. The classification showed the "gulf" that exists between IT and medical professionals in their perspectives on the underlying causes of medical errors. IT experts consider technology as the source of most errors and suggest solutions that are mostly technical. However, clinicians assigned the source of errors within the people, process, and contextual dimensions. For example, for the error "Copied and pasted charting in the wrong window: Before, you could not easily get into someone else's chart accidentally...because you would have to pull the chart and open it," medical experts highlighted contextual issues, including the number of patients a health care provider sees in a short time frame, unfamiliarity with a new electronic medical record system, nurse transitions around the time of error, and confusion due to patients having the same name. They emphasized process controls, including failure modes, as a potential fix. Technology experts, in contrast, discussed the lack of notification, poor user interface, and lack of end-user training as critical factors for this error.

CONCLUSIONS

Knowledge of the dimensions of the sociotechnical framework and their interplay with other dimensions can guide the choice of ways to address medical errors. These findings lead us to conclude that designers need not only a high degree of HIT know-how but also a strong understanding of the medical processes and contextual factors. Although software development teams have historically included clinicians as business analysts or subject matter experts to bridge the gap, development teams will be better served by more immersive exposure to clinical environments, leading to better software design and implementation, and ultimately to enhanced patient safety.

Medication errors related to computerized provider order entry systems in hospitals and how they change over time: A narrative review

BACKGROUND

Evaluations of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems have revealed that reductions in certain types of medication errors occur simultaneously with the emergence of system-related errors - errors that are unlikely or not possible to occur with the use of paper-based medication charts. System-related errors appear to persist many years post-implementation of CPOE, although little is known about whether the types and rates of system-related errors that occur immediately following CPOE implementation are similar to those that endure or emerge after years of system use.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze and synthesize the literature on system-related errors, specifically in relation to the length of time that CPOE systems have been in use, to determine what is currently known about how system-related errors change over time.

METHODS

A literature search was undertaken using the PubMed database to identify English language articles published between January 2005 and March 2020 that provided original data on system-related errors resulting from CPOE system use. Studies were included if they provided results on system-related errors and information relating to the length of time that CPOE had been in use.

RESULTS

Thirty-one studies met the inclusion criteria for this narrative review. System-related errors were identified and described during short, medium and long-term use of CPOE systems, but no single study examined how errors changed over time. In comparing findings across studies, results suggest that system-related errors persist with long-term use of CPOE systems, although likely to occur at a reduced rate.

CONCLUSIONS

This review has highlighted a significant gap in knowledge on how system-related errors change over time. Determining what and when system-related errors occur and the system factors that contribute to their occurrence at different time points after CPOE implementation is necessary for the future prevention and mitigation of these errors.

Computerized provider order entry-related medication errors among hospitalized patients: An integrative review

The Institute of Medicine estimates that 7,000 lives are lost yearly as a result of medication errors. Computerized physician and/or provider order entry was one of the proposed solutions to overcome this tragic issue. Despite some promising data about its effectiveness, it has been found that computerized provider order entry may facilitate medication errors.The purpose of this review is to summarize current evidence of computerized provider order entry -related medication errors and address the sociotechnical factors impacting the safe use of computerized provider order entry. By using PubMed and Google Scholar databases, a systematic search was conducted for articles published in English between 2007 and 2019 regarding the unintended consequences of computerized provider order entry and its related medication errors. A total of 288 articles were screened and categorized based on their use within the review. One hundred six articles met our pre-defined inclusion criteria and were read in full, in addition to another 27 articles obtained from references. All included articles were classified into the following categories: rates and statistics on computerized provider order entry -related medication errors, types of computerized provider order entry -related unintended consequences, factors contributing to computerized provider order entry failure, and recommendations based on addressing sociotechnical factors. Identifying major types of computerized provider order entry -related unintended consequences and addressing their causes can help in developing appropriate strategies for safe and effective computerized provider order entry. The interplay between social and technical factors can largely affect its safe implementation and use. This review discusses several factors associated with the unintended consequences of this technology in healthcare settings and presents recommendations for enhancing its effectiveness and safety within the context of sociotechnical factors.

Autopilots in the Operating Room

Automated medical technology is becoming an integral part of routine anesthetic practice. Automated technologies can improve patient safety, but may create new workflows with potentially surprising adverse consequences and cognitive errors that must be addressed before these technologies are adopted into clinical practice. Industries such as aviation and nuclear power have developed techniques to mitigate the unintended consequences of automation, including automation bias, skill loss, and system failures. In order to maximize the benefits of automated technology, clinicians should receive training in human–system interaction including topics such as vigilance, management of system failures, and maintaining manual skills. Medical device manufacturers now evaluate usability of equipment using the principles of human performance and should be encouraged to develop comprehensive training materials that describe possible system failures. Additional research in human–system interaction can improve the ways in which automated medical devices communicate with clinicians. These steps will ensure that medical practitioners can effectively use these new devices while being ready to assume manual control when necessary and prepare us for a future that includes automated health care.

Systematic review of computerized prescriber order entry and clinical decision support

PURPOSE

Results of a systematic review of published data on the effect of computerized prescriber order entry (CPOE) with clinical decision support on medication error (ME) and adverse drug event (ADE) rates are presented.

METHODS

Literature searches of MEDLINE, Embase, and other databases were conducted to identify English- and Spanish-language articles on selected CPOE outcomes published from 1995 through 2016; in addition, 5 specific journals were searched for pertinent articles published during the period 2010-16. Publications on controlled prospective studies and before-and-after studies that assessed MEs and/or ADEs as main outcomes were selected for inclusion in the review.

RESULTS

Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Data on MEs and ADEs could not be pooled, mainly due to heterogeneity in outcome definitions and study methodologies. The reviewed evidence indicated that CPOE implementation led to an overall reduction in errors at the prescription stage of the medication-use process (relative risk reduction, 0.29 [95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.85]; I ² = 99%) and reductions in most types of prescription errors, but CPOE also resulted in the emergence of other types of errors.

CONCLUSION

CPOE reduces the overall ME rate in the prescription process, as well as specific types of errors, such as wrong dose or strength, wrong drug, frequency, administration route, and drug-drug interaction errors. The implementation of CPOE can lead to new errors, such as wrong drug selection from drop-down menus.

[Patient safety hazards resulting from information technology usage in outpatient oncology infusion centers: A prospective analysis of information management]

OBJECTIVES

Thorough management of patient information is crucial in cancer care in order to avoid errors. Clinicians need complete, up-to-date information to be able to develop an adequate mental model of the patient's situation. The aim of the present study was to identify patient safety hazards coming with the use of health information technology (HIT): patient safety hazards in three outpatient oncology infusion centers were assessed and priority topics identified. Additionally, the number of information sources clinicians have to use in order to get an idea of the patient's situation was systematically assessed. Interviews and observations were conducted with one nurse and one doctor of each ambulatory infusion center.

PRINCIPAL RESULTS

Information management-related patient safety hazards were omnipresent in daily care: eleven topics were identified from 125 assessed patient safety hazards. Three of them were particularly relevant to the clinicians' development of an adequate mental model about the patient: patient-related information was not stored in one place but often fragmented in different HIT systems; despite the introduction of HIT, paper documentation remained in place for certain information, making access difficult and increasing the number of relevant sources; the lack of usability of the HIT systems made it difficult to retrieve patient information in a timely manner. Clinicians needed to use between 5 and 11 sources of information to get a more complete picture of a patient's situation.

MAJOR CONCLUSIONS

Overall, it has been shown that the design of the HIT systems is not sufficiently adapted to the work processes and does not support clinicians in being fully informed about a patient. The topics identified point to future system design and areas for improvement. In this process, it is very important to align the real work requirements with the design of the HIT and to evaluate and monitor the actual implementation and use of HIT.