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Updated: May 28, 2026
A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Published on: April 19, 2019
[The impact of the computerized unique therapeutic card (Computer Assisted Drug Therapy) in a cardiac care setting]
Cinzia Borgognoni1, Giordano Cotichelli, Andrea Toccaceli
1Professore a contratto - Dottoranda presso l'Università Politecnica delle Marche; Coordinatore dipartimentale AO Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona.
Insights
A computerized therapeutic card system significantly reduced medication errors in a cardiology department by improving legibility and dose accuracy. This digital tool enhances patient safety and streamlines the prescribing and administration process.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Clinical Pharmacy
- Health Informatics
Context:
- Adverse drug events pose a significant risk in healthcare settings.
- Effective management of the therapeutic-pharmacological process is crucial for patient safety.
- Existing documentation methods can lead to critical errors in medication management.
Purpose:
- To develop and implement a computerized therapeutic card system (STU) in a cardiology department.
- To utilize the Deming Cycle for systematic development and improvement.
- To enhance the safety and efficiency of drug prescribing and administration.
Summary:
- A multi-professional team developed and implemented a computerized STU using the Deming Cycle.
- The system addressed critical issues in clinical documentation and the therapeutic-pharmacological process.
- Key improvements included enhanced legibility, accurate drug dosing, and better record alignment.
Impact:
- Reduced errors in handwriting legibility by 71%.
- Improved accuracy in drug dose and selection by 29%.
- Enhanced alignment between medical and nursing records by 26% and subject identification by 38%.
Background:
The introduction of a unique therapeutic card represents a valid tool for the containment of adverse events during the treatment process, from prescribing a drug to its administration.
Aims:
This article aims to illustrate the development and implementation (through the application of the Deming Cycle) of a computerized STU in a cardiac care setting referring to a Department of Cardiology.
Materials And Methods:
A multi-professional team was formed and carried out the following steps: a) analysis of existing clinical documentation highlighting the most critical points with respect to the therapeutic-pharmacological process; b) construction of a computerized STU c) sharing information with every member of the professional group involved, d) implementation of the STU in order to assess the areas of improvement.
Results:
At the end of this procedure, the critical areas evidenced were shown to be markedly improved due to the elimination of errors relating to lack of legibility of handwriting (improvement of 71%, χ2 = 102.589, p <5%), dose and drug which should be administered (improvement of 29%; χ2 = 42.832, p <5%). Furthermore, there is an alignment between the data contained in both medical and nursing records (improvement of 26%, χ2 = 110.589, p <5%) and a complete identification of the subjects / actors in all stages of the process (improvement of 38%, χ2 = 32.284, p <5%).
Conclusions:
The survey has documented the significant benefits of the computerized STU in accordance with prior experience and in line with the continuous improvement process of quality of care which is still ongoing.
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