More Technology Being Deployed to Prevent Medication Errors in Hospitals, But It Fails Too Often, According to A New Report by The Leapfrog Group and Castlight Health

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Apr 09, 2015, 08:54 ET

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nonprofit hospital watchdog The Leapfrog Group today released its report on Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) Systems and Medication Errors, which shows a record number of U.S. hospitals are using technology to reduce potential medication prescribing errors; however, these systems fail too often, jeopardizing patients' safety.

The report examines the use of CPOE systems for prescribers to enter medication orders into a computer system and transmit them electronically to a pharmacy. Studies suggest CPOE systems can substantially reduce medication errors, the most common mistakes made in hospitals.

Key Findings include:

Increased CPOE Use: In 2014, a record 1,339 hospitals reported using a CPOE system in at least one inpatient unit, compared with only 384 hospitals in 2010. Fifty-nine percent of hospitals entered 75-percent or more of all medication orders electronically in 2014.
Increased CPOE Testing: In 2014, hospitals performed 1,200 simulation tests using Leapfrog's CPOE Evaluation Tool, developed by Dr. David Bates, Dr. David Classen, and Jane Metzger. That's a 30-percent increase over 2013.
Technology Failure Rates Remain Too High: During the simulation tests, 36-percent of potentially harmful medication orders did not receive a proper warning by CPOE systems. Furthermore, the number of potentially fatal orders that weren't flagged by CPOE systems remained too high, at 13.9 percent.

This is the third in a series of reports based on the 2014 Leapfrog Hospital Survey of 1,501 U.S. hospitals with data analysis by Castlight Health. All reports are available at http://www.leapfroggroup.org/HospitalSurveyReport

About The Leapfrog Group
National nonprofit watchdog The Leapfrog Group evaluates and reports on the safety and quality performance of U.S. hospitals for the benefit of consumers, employers and other health care purchasers. Leapfrog is deeply committed to increasing transparency among health care providers in order to achieve its goal of reducing the estimated 440,000 annual deaths from unnecessary hospital errors.

About Castlight Health
Castlight Health, Inc. is a leader in Enterprise Healthcare Management. For more information visit www.castlighthealth.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and Like us on Facebook. Source: Castlight Health.