New Report Issued for Medication Safety Week: Hospitals’ Computerized Systems Proven to Prevent Medication Errors, but More is Needed to Protect Patients from Harm or Death

Apr 7, 2016

Analysis of The Leapfrog Group’s Data by Castlight Health Found CPOE Systems Failed to Flag 13 Percent of Potentially Fatal Orders, Emphasizing Need for More Checks

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Despite improvements in recent years, a report released today alongside Medication Safety Awareness Week (April 1 to April 7) shows that not all hospitals have implemented crucial computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems for preventing medication errors during hospital stays.

Data collected by The Leapfrog Group and analyzed by Castlight Health found that even in cases where hospitals had CPOE systems in place, 39 percent of potentially harmful drug orders and 13 percent of potentially fatal orders weren’t flagged by the system to alert staff.

Additional key findings highlighted in the report include:

  • Nearly all (96 percent) hospitals report use of a CPOE system. This is up from 33 percent in 2010 and just two percent when Leapfrog began reporting on CPOE in 2001.
  • Nearly two-thirds of hospitals (64 percent) fully met Leapfrog’s CPOE standard. To meet Leapfrog’s standard a hospital must demonstrate that its system alerts physicians to at least 50 percent of common, serious prescribing errors. Hospitals must also place at least 75 percent of inpatient medication orders through a CPOE system.
  • CPOE use varies state by state. Among the states with the lowest percentage of hospitals meeting Leapfrog’s standard were Indiana (25 percent) and Nevada (35 percent). Alternatively, among the states with the most hospitals meeting the standard were Maine (85 percent), Georgia (83 percent), and New York (81 percent).

Today’s report is the second in a series of five reports to be released this year, each examining key quality and safety measures at hospitals nationwide based on data from the 2015 Leapfrog Hospital Survey of 1,750 U.S. hospitals.

About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care.

About Castlight Health
Castlight Health offers a health benefits platform that engages employees to make better healthcare decisions and guide them to the right program, care, and provider. For more information visit www.castlighthealth.com.

CONTACTS:

Ashley Duvall
Stern Strategy Group (on behalf of the Leapfrog Group)
(908) 325-3865
[email protected]

Jim Rivas
Castlight Health
(415) 829-1568
[email protected]

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