Medical errors: computers are no panacea

Increased patient loads, time pressures, and heightened public awareness of medical errors are forcing many physicians and clinical administrators to consider acquiring computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems and clinical information systems. The recent revelation that CPOE systems can facilitate medical errors, however, is a call to physicians to remain vigilant despite the new technologies. By attending to specific data-capture and data-access errors associated with clinical information systems, physicians can minimize errors associated with clinical information systems and maximize the potential benefits to their patients.