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Making a smooth transition to CPOE

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, May 5, 2006

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As the push for a universal electronic health record (EHR) and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) intensifies-a core component in providing real-time electronic data-hospitals nationwide will have to gear up for the biggest change since the inpatient prospective payment system took effect.

In our April 7th issue, we brought you some steps that your hospital needs to take to make sure that the transition to CPOE goes as smoothly as possible-all learned from executives at seven hospitals that have successfully automated physician orders. The following are the final lessons that these executives have to share:

1. Set a deadline and mean it. A tight roll-out schedule might seem counterintuitive for a difficult technology like CPOE, but hospitals that get order entry to work set one.

Keeping the implementation dates front and center accomplishes two goals, experts say. First, it reinforces the seriousness of the project. Second, it keeps staff focused on an institutional makeover that could easily lose momentum.

2. Training is key. Behind every stalled CPOE project lurks inadequate training. "It's not a 'fire-and-forget' application," cautions Stephen Smith, former chief technology officer at University of Pennsylvania Health System, which is wrapping up its CPOE installation across three hospitals.

Having trainers and support staff available around the clock is critical, Smith says, adding that his support crew fielded 40 calls per day.

Hospitals with successful adoption of CPOE usually begin training staff well before the launch and then maintain a highly visible support presence during the transition.

To learn three more tips for CPOE implementation, go to Hospital Pharmacy Regulation Report (HPRR). For the cost of just three stories, you can get the entire April issue of HPRR. Click here to choose between the PDF and HTML versions for just $30. Subscribers to the online version of HPRR have free access to this article. Subscribers to the print newsletter can find this article in their April issue.

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