Poster Presentation
Sunday, November 4, 2007
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Sunday, November 4, 2007
1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
Patient Safety, Quality of Care, and Service Utilization with PLATO (Physician Leadership for Accurate and Timely Orders): A Pilot Study
Barbara A. Brunt, MA, MN, RN-BC, Nursing Education and Staff Development, Summa Health System, Akron, OH, USA and Irene Louise Gifford, MSN, RN, IT Customer Support, Summa Health System, Akron, OH, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Describe issues that nurses, ancillary staff, and physicians expressed relating to a computerized physician order entry system |
| Learning Objective #2: Identify potential impact on patient safety by comparing written and verbal physician orders pre and post implementation of a computerized physician order entry system |
Computerized physician order entry systems, such as PLATO (Physician Leadership for Accurate and Timely Orders), are being implemented in healthcare institutions across the United States to enhance the quality and efficiency of patient care and help prevent harm. This descriptive pilot study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the effectiveness of PLATO and analyzed one other factor that has a potential impact on patient safety. All staff members working on one medical stepdown unit received a survey, in addition to the physicians who entered orders for patients on that unit. This unit went live with PLATO in November of 2005, so staff members have been using this system for over a year now. The surveys used in this study were investigator-designed tools modified from a previous study of CPOE done with another healthcare system. Content validity of the revised tools was established by the Director of Clinical Systems and PLATO educator at Summa Health System Hospitals. Reliability tests are currently being conducted on the tools. An additional factor that was studied included a comparison of the percentage of written to verbal order sources pre and post implementation. The pre-implementation chart review included the time frame from August through October of 2005, and the post-implementation chart review and analysis included the time frame from March through May, 2006, to allow for a 4-month time frame for staff to adapt to the system. The results of this study are being analyzed now and should provide data to determine the effectiveness of this system. In addition, it will identify changes in the percentage of one variable that has a potential impact on patient safety. Results will be reported on the poster.