Will First Databank's new CPOE improve Canadian healthcare?

In an attempt to make computerized provider order entry (CPOE) application more user friendly, clinical drug knowledge provider First Databank has produced a Canadian pre-built medication ordering drug knowledge base called FDB OrderKnowledge Canada.

CPOE is the process of a medical professional entering medication orders or other instructions electronically instead of paper charts. The main benefit to this digital process is reducing errors related to poor handwriting or transcription of medical orders.

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According to a 2013 study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, processing prescriptions through CPOE reduced the chance of an error by 48 percent.

Despite there being significant federal investment throughout Canada to trigger electronic health record (EHR) adoption since 2001, its use of CPOE applications is still fairly low. Several CPOE solutions have hit obstacles mostly due to issues of system usability, especially when drug ordering.

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 Some physicians are hesitant to use CPOE solutions because of less interaction with patients and nurses, increased ordering time and workflow disruption.

However, FDB OrderKnowledge Canada will allow clinicians to specify patient-specific medication orders quickly and more efficiently since it’s specifically designed to meet the unique challenges of CPOE with identifiers and built-in drug concepts that optimize system functionality and navigation capabilities.

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In addition, organizations will save significant amounts of time and money by cutting back staff hours needed to prepare general-purpose medication orders to work within their CPOE system.

“Building the medication ordering content that supports CPOE applications is a significant task for CPOE implementers, whether or not they build a homegrown system or purchase one from a vendor,” said Lisa Geller, FDB senior product manager. “Without an infrastructure and content collection process in place, it’s extremely difficult to research and rigorously test the content efficiently in a clinical environment.

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“With OrderKnowledge, FDB’s dedicated team of clinical pharmacists and quality management professionals do the research and testing to ensure CPOE success.”

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