Association of patient photographs and reduced retract-and-reorder events

Wrong-patient order entry (WPOE) is a potentially dangerous medical error. It remains unknown if patient photographs reduce WPOE in the pediatric inpatient population.

Order sessions from a single pediatric hospital system were examined for retract-and-reorder (RAR) events, a surrogate WPOE measure. We determined the association of patient photographs with the proportion of order sessions resulting in a RAR event, adjusted for patient, provider, and ordering context.

In multivariable analysis, the presence of a patient photo in the electronic health record was associated with 40% lower odds of a RAR event (aOR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.48-0.75), while cardiac and ICU contexts had higher RAR frequency (aOR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.69-2.67 and 2.05, 95% CI: 1.71-2.45, respectively).

Patient photos were associated with lower odds of RAR events in the pediatric inpatient setting, while high acuity locations may be at higher risk. Patient photographs may reduce WPOE without interruptions.