Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Computerized physician order entry and medication errors in a pediatric critical care unit.

Amy L Potts1, Frederick E Barr, David F Gregory

  • 1Department of Pharmaceutical Services, Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, Nashville, Tennessee 37212-1565, USA.

Pediatrics
|January 2, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) significantly reduced medication errors in a pediatric critical care unit. This system nearly eliminated prescribing errors and rule violations, improving patient safety.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

L-Citrulline: Novel Pharmacotherapy to Improve Outcomes in Infants and Children at Risk of Systemic or Pulmonary Vascular Disease.

Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

Arousal and valence differentially shape temporal memory for naturalistic events.

Memory (Hove, England)·2026
Same author

A mechanistic trial of the neurobiology of extinction learning and intraparietal sulcus stimulation: Protocol.

Contemporary clinical trials communications·2026
Same author

Pediatric Pharmacy Association 2025 KIDs List of Key Potentially Inappropriate Drugs in Pediatrics.

The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG·2025
Same author

Association of Opioid Disposal Practices with Parental Education and a Home Opioid Disposal Kit Following Pediatric Ambulatory Surgery.

Anesthesia and analgesia·2024
Same author

Physician Specialty Differences in Unprofessional Behaviors Observed and Reported by Coworkers.

JAMA network open·2024

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
  • Health Informatics
  • Patient Safety

Background:

  • Medication errors are a significant concern in pediatric healthcare.
  • Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing medication errors and adverse drug events (ADEs) in adult populations.
  • The impact of CPOE on medication ordering errors in pediatric critical care units (PCCUs) remains under-reported.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of implementing a CPOE system on the frequency of medication ordering errors within a pediatric critical care unit.
  • To assess the reduction in medication prescribing errors (MPEs), rule violations (RVs), and potential adverse drug events (ADEs) after CPOE implementation.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective trial was conducted in a 20-bed PCCU at a tertiary-care children's hospital.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Medication orders for 514 pediatric patients were reviewed before and after CPOE implementation.
  • Errors were classified as potential ADEs, MPEs, and RVs.

    • Main Results:

    • A total of 13,828 medication orders were analyzed.
    • Before CPOE, rates were 2.2 potential ADEs, 30.1 MPEs, and 6.8 RVs per 100 orders.
    • After CPOE, rates decreased to 1.3 potential ADEs, 0.2 MPEs, and 0.1 RVs per 100 orders, representing an overall error reduction of 95.9%.

    Conclusions:

    • CPOE implementation led to a substantial decrease in medication errors in the PCCU.
    • The system achieved near-complete elimination of MPEs and RVs.
    • While significant, the reduction in potential ADEs was less pronounced compared to prescribing errors and rule violations.