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FMC to Begin Using Computerized Patient Order Entry (CPOE) on June 14, 2011

FMC will use Computerized Patient Order Entry (CPOE) to streamline patient care. It allows physicians to perform routine daily activities, such as ordering labs and medications, within a system that connects all of the appropriate departments at the hospital.

LANCASTER, Ohio (June 8, 2011) – Fairfield Medical Center (FMC) has taken the initiative to implement Computerized Patient Order Entry (CPOE) throughout the hospital to ensure safer, high quality care for its patients. The clinical staff at FMC will begin utilizing this new system on June 14, 2011. Fairfield Medical Center physicians will go-live on July 12, 2011.

CPOE is a computer system that doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals use to input patient information using laptops, desktop computers, and mobile devices. Computerized Patient Order Entry will improve order accuracy, decrease medication errors and improve patient safety.

“By having clear and complete patient orders I believe overall patient quality of care will elevate to a new standard and am looking forward to this new system,” said Dr. Jean Robertson, CMIO at Fairfield Medical Center. “We realize it will take time for everyone to learn this new system, but seeing the benefits it provides, makes it easier to adjust.”

To ensure a smooth transition to this new technology, all physicians and staff have been training for several weeks, both in the classroom and on the computers. In addition, to support and assist staff once CPOE is implemented, the role of a superuser (FMC employee who is an expert of the CPOE system) was created. There are about 52 superusers known as “Tempo Masters.”

To view a video regarding CPOE at Fairfield Medical Center, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IgbWv_wMys&feature=channel_video_title

The acronym TEMPO stands for “Together Everyone Manages Patient Outcomes.” TEMPO is actually the title for the campaign that was established by Fairfield Medical Center employees involved in CPOE. This campaign helps staff understand the CPOE program throughout their training and implementation of the system. Intertwining a music theme with this technology is meant to keep this transition, fun, interactive, and positive. The goal is to help staff understand the importance of this new system and the benefits it will bring to their daily operations.

Benefits of CPOE:

• Enhance patient care quality and safety - When clinicians enter orders, the system will automatically alert them if there are potentially harmful drug interactions or patient allergies.

• Increase patient-care efficiency - As soon as the orders are entered into the computer, they are available in the system, meaning healthcare providers will have access to all active orders immediately.

• Improve communication among caregivers - CPOE makes it simple for any physician or nurse at FMC to immediately see a summary of the active orders. This facilitates a multi-disciplinary approach to patient care.

• Reduce legibility errors - Written orders will be replaced and nurses, unit clerks, and pharmacists will no longer have to spend hours trying to interpret and clarify unreadable orders.

• Decrease the risk of medication errors - CPOE will reduce potential risks of medication errors by adding decision support at the point of order entry. This includes allergy checking, duplicate medication alerts, and drug-drug interactions.

For questions or more information about CPOE at Fairfield Medical Center, please contact Dr. Jean Robertson at (740) 689-6825.

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