Staten Island University Hospital To Go Paperless!
Last week, Staten Island University Hospital's Emergency Room went paperless. The hospital introduced a computer based system that will eliminate the traditional paper based chart that has led to untold medical errors because of their unavailability and physician's notoriously bad handwriting. Studies have shown that the use of paperless charts and prescriptions, know as "e-prescriptions", have reduced a doctor's prescription errors from 42.5 per 100 to 6.6 per 100 prescriptions, a startling reduction.
Numerous medications have similar names and when written quickly across the prescription pad by a physician, the results can be deadly. Some prescription medications have remarkably similar trade names and dosages. In one particular instance, the drugs Flomax and Volmax, besides sounding similar, are also dispensed in similar doses, separated by a decimal point. As the proper dosage is .4 mg or 4 mg depending on the drug, As the ".' (decimal point) is easily left out, especially since many physicians fail to use the proper "0.4" to designate the proper dosage, patients lives were placed at risk.
The paperless hospital is meant to eliminate most, if not all, of the errors associated with illegible handwriting. The technology behind the paperless hospital makes use of symbols and bar coding to eliminate errors in testing and administering medication. The paperless hospital also allows the use of "templates" or "care sets", for medical care. When a patient is treated for a specific illness, they can be assigned a care set which orders specific tests and medications to help treat their symptoms. This automation greatly reduces errors in physicians failing to order tests or administering the wrong dosages.
My question is why has it taken so long to embrace technology? Sadly, despite attempts by many hospitals to implement such a program, the steadfast refusal of physicians and staff to embrace the technology has led hospitals to abandon their efforts. In the end, the only ones who suffer are you and I, the patients and their family.
