The impact of computerized physician order entry on prescription orders: A quasi-experimental study in Iran

Background: One way to reduce medical errors associated with physician orders is computerized physician order entry (CPOE) software. This study was conducted to compare prescription orders between 2 groups before and after CPOE implementation in a hospital. Methods: We conducted a before-after prospective study in 2 intensive care unit (ICU) wards (as intervention and control wards) in the largest tertiary public hospital in South of Iran during 2014 and 2016. All prescription orders were validated by a clinical pharmacist and an ICU physician. The rates of ordering the errors in medical orders were compared before (manual ordering) and after implementation of the CPOE. A standard checklist was used for data collection. For the data analysis, SPSS Version 21, descriptive statistics, and analytical tests such as McNemar, chi-square, and logistic regression were used. Results: The CPOE significantly decreased 2 types of errors, illegible orders and lack of writing the drug form, in the intervention ward compared to the control ward (p< 0.05); however, the 2 errors increased due to the defect in the CPOE (p< 0.001). The use of CPOE decreased the prescription errors from 19% to 3% (p= 0.001), However, no differences were observed in the control ward (p<0.05). In addition, more errors occurred in the morning shift (p< 0.001). Conclusion: In general, the use of CPOE significantly reduced the prescription errors. Nonetheless, more caution should be exercised in the use of this system, and its deficiencies should be resolved. Furthermore, it is recommended that CPOE be used to improve the quality of delivered services in hospitals.