Hospitals’ Use Of Computer-Assisted Medication Ordering Systems Reduces Errors, But Work Still Needs To Be Done
A Thursday report by the Leapfrog Group explored the impact these digital systems are having on patient safety.
USA Today:
Hospitals' Digital Drug Ordering Boosts Safety But Can Lead To Fatal Errors
Hospitals' use of digital medication orders have dramatically reduced the number of dangerous drug errors, but their computer systems still fail to flag 13% of potentially fatal mistakes, a report released Thursday shows. Medication errors are by far the most common mistakes made in hospitals — and hospital errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. Digital drug ordering is part of so-called "computerized physician order entry," or CPOE, which was designed to address the problem. (O'Donnell, 4/7)
Detroit Free Press:
Study: Michigan Hospitals Have Cut Drug Error Rates
Within the last two years, many hospitals across Michigan have improved the way that patients get prescription drugs during their hospital stays — improvements that should lead to fewer physician errors and fewer adverse drug reactions, according to results from a national report. The report, called “Preventing Medication Errors in Hospitals,” reviewed data on how many hospitals across the country use newer computerized systems that are fully set up to prevent medication errors — which are the most common type of error to happen in hospitals, according to a news release from the Economic Alliance for Michigan. (Bethencourt, 4/7)
Naples Daily News:
SWFL Hospitals Grade Well In National Survey On Medication Safety
The Lee Memorial Health System fully meets a safety group's standards for using computer systems to prevent medication errors and the NCH Healthcare System is nearly there, according to findings. The national nonprofit Leapfrog Group, which focuses on health care quality and safety, has released a new analysis on how well hospitals nationwide use computerized physician order entry systems to prevent medication errors. (Freeman, 4/7)
Earlier, related KHN coverage: Hospital Software Often Doesn’t Flag Unsafe Drug Prescriptions, Report Finds (Luthra, 4/7).
News outlets also report on hospital-market news -
The Chicago Tribune:
A Centegra Deal Would Bring Patients To Northwestern Memorial HealthCare
Antitrust scrutiny of hospital consolidation in the Chicago area isn't stopping Northwestern University's academic medical center from pursuing another merger. Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial is in talks with Centegra Health System, based in northwest suburban Crystal Lake, to explore a potential combination. There's no guarantee that the discussions will lead to a full-blown merger, but Northwestern has been more successful than not in closing deals. (Sachdev, 4/7)
Modern Healthcare:
Tenet Falls Out Of S&P 500
Poor financials, a deteriorating stock price and investor unease over a difficult nine-month stretch have pushed hospital chain Tenet Healthcare Corp. out of the Standard & Poor's 500, a blue-chip stock index. Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, a beauty store chain, will replace Dallas-based Tenet in the S&P 500. Tenet will move to the S&P MidCap 400. “Tenet Healthcare has a market capitalization that is more representative of the mid-cap market space,” according to a news release from the S&P Dow Jones Indices.Tenet's market capitalization was about $2.8 billion as of Thursday. (Herman, 4/7)
