[medinformatics] Report: CPOE Expensive but Cost Effective

[Medical Informatics News]

Nearly 70 percent of Massachusetts hospitals have failed to install special computer systems
for ordering drugs for patients, mostly because they carry big price tags. But a new report from the
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative says the state’s hospitals would end up
saving money if they install these sophisticated systems to reduce medical errors. From the Boston Globe:


The collaborative, a quasi-public agency with a board that includes leaders from the healthcare and technology
industries and universities, hired an outside consulting firm to analyze the cost and cost-savings if all Massachusetts
hospitals install the systems, called Computer Physician Order Entry.

The firm, First Consulting Group, based in California, said it would cost $210
million in one-time start-up expenditures for the 46 Massachusetts hospitals that don’t have the systems to install
them, or update existing technology to a minimum agreed-upon standard. But, consultants said, the hospitals would save
$275 million annually because the systems reduce errors and, as a result, medical care for unintentional injuries to
patients. The systems alert doctors when patients are allergic to drugs, or when a doctor has ordered a dangerous
overdose, among other problems.

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