Summary
Objectives:
To heighten awareness about the critical issues currently affecting patient care
and to propose solutions based on leveraging information technologies to enhance patient
care and influence a culture of patient safety.
Methods:
Presentation and discussion of the issues affecting health care today, such as medical
and medication-related errors and analysis of their root causes; proliferation of
medical knowledge and medical technologies; initiatives to improve patient safety;
steps necessary to develop a culture of safety; introduction of relevant enabling
technologies; and evidence of results.
Results and Conclusion:
Medical errors affect not only mortality and morbidity, but they also create secondary
costs leading to dissatisfaction by both provider and patient. Health care has been
slow to acknowledge the benefits of enabling technologies to affect the quality of
care. Evaluation of recent applications, such as the computerized patient record,
physician order entry, and computerized alerting systems show tremendous potential
to enhance patient care and influence the development of a culture focused on safety.
They will also bring about changes in other areas, such as workflow and the creation
of new partnerships among providers, patients, and payers.
Keywords
Medical errors - patient safety - information technology - computerized patient record
- physician order entry - clinical decision support - clinical outcomes - evidence-based
medicine
