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Electronic Health Records

Enhancements to PEI Electronic Health Record Coming Soon

Prince County Hospital is going live with CPOE on June 1st.  We ask Islanders to be patient as physicians and staff implement this new electronic process.

Over the next year all Island hospitals will start using an electronic ordering process called CPOE (Computerized Provider Order Entry) to order diagnostic tests, order and chart medications, and enter patient care instructions directly into the patient’s electronic health record at the time of care.

CPOE is another strategic step that Health PEI is taking to make our electronic health records more complete and integrated for all Islanders.

Patients, physicians, staff and other health care providers will benefit greatly from this new electronic process for the following reasons:

• Physicians, staff and other health care providers will have up-to-date information at their fingertips allowing them to provide the safest care to their patients
• Entering orders directly into the patient’s electronic health record will reduce errors that can occur with handwritten orders
• Improving patient safety by alerting health care providers of medication conflicts, allergies and similar tests previously ordered

Questions & Answers
What is CPOE?
Why is Health PEI implementing CPOE?
How does CPOE fit with the rest of the electronic health record
What are the features of CPOE?
What are the benefits of CPOE?
How will CPOE benefit hospitals?
How will CPOE improve patient safety?
Where is CPOE being implementing and when?

Q	What is CPOE?
A	“CPOE” stands for Computerized Provider Order Entry. As part of the Clinical Information System (CIS), CPOE automates the ordering process in hospitals for diagnostic tests (laboratory and diagnostic imaging), medications, and patient care instructions to nursing, and other health care providers, by ordering clinicians (primarily physicians). Nursing will also use the system to chart when medication was given as well as to document the care provided to patients.
Q	Why is Health PEI implementing CPOE?
A	CPOE is a strategic initiative of Health PEI, and the health care system, in support of quality, safety and improved patient care. CPOE gives health care organizations the opportunity to standardize practice; incorporate clinical decision support into daily practice; improve inter-departmental communications; facilitate patient transfers; and capture data for management, research and quality monitoring. CPOE is more appropriate to the complexities of today’s healthcare than paper based systems.
Q	How does CPOE fit with the rest of the electronic health record?
A	CPOE is another step towards the achievement of the goal of “one patient, one record” and in the evolution of an integrated electronic health record for all Islanders.
Q	What are the features of CPOE?
A	CPOE is being implemented in two phases. Phase 1 included replacing paper requisitions for lab, diagnostic imaging and allied health consults for hospital in-patients, emergency and surgical department patients. Nursing departments electronically enter these orders into the CIS. CPOE Phase 1 has been implemented in all Island hospitals. Phase 2 is comprised of two components: 1) ordering clinicians, primarily physicians, will stop writing orders on paper and will begin entering orders, including lab, diagnostic imaging, consults, as well as medication and patient care orders, electronically into the CIS; and, 2) nursing will use CPOE to chart when medication was given as well as the care they provided to their patients. This phase of CPOE will be implemented in a phased approach, commencing with Prince County Hospital (PCH) June 1st, 2013.
Q	What are the benefits of CPOE?
A	Major benefits of CPOE include: Reduction in medical errors associated with handwriting, transcription, abbreviations, differing units of measure and look-alike, sound-alike drug names; Standardized, safer patient care enabled by drug-to-drug interaction and duplicate checking as well as drug allergy checking; Workflow and efficiency gains through the removal of order processing time which will allow for faster initiation of treatment ; and, The delivery of real-time patient information to the prescribing clinician at the point of care.
Q	How will CPOE benefit hospitals?
A	CPOE affords hospitals the opportunity to standardize clinical processes and clinical decision support used in daily practice by clinicians while caring for patients. CPOE also assists in improving inter-departmental communication, facilitates patient transfers, and captures data for management, research and quality monitoring.
Q	How will CPOE improve patient safety?
A	CPOE is about improving patient care and patient safety. Orders entered in a computer are easier to read than handwritten orders, reducing the chance of errors. If two drugs being ordered for a patient should not be used together, the system will give the physician a warning at the time the physician is entering the order into the system. If the patient has an allergy to the drug the physician is ordering, the system will give the physician a warning at the time the physician is entering the order into the system. The duplicate warning will alert the physician or nurse that similar drugs/tests have already been ordered so they will not be ordered twice by mistake nor will they be unnecessarily repeated. Physicians, nurses and other health care providers will have information at their fingertips to assist them in making decisions about patient care.
Q	Where is CPOE being implementing and when?
A	All seven (7) Island hospitals are implementing both phases of CPOE. To date, all have implemented the first phase of CPOE. On June 1st, 2013, Prince County Hospital (PCH) will be the first Island hospital to implement the second phase of CPOE. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) will be implementing CPOE Phase 2 later this fall and the remaining Island hospitals will begin implementation in the new year.

Resources
Learn more about Electronic Health Records
Electronic Health Records integrate information, improve care (February 2012, Talking Health)