Abstract

Toronto East General Hospital implemented CPOE and eMAR in 2009 for all inpatients and day surgery patients. The organization undertook quantitative and qualitative to demonstrate the impact of the investment.

Results on adoption/use demonstrated a high rate of adoption. In the first two weeks, all inpatients charts were converted to electronic charts. Clinician satisfaction was higher for nursing and allied staff compared to physicians, but was overall very positive. Areas for improvement included impact on workflow and the admission process for physicians. All groups agreed that quality of care and legibility of orders improved. To support evidence-based care, the number of order-sets has increased threefold. Pharmacy medication delivery turnaround time decreased 60%; documented medication incidents decreased 21%. Wrong patient, no order and omission errors have been reduced and transcription errors, illegible writing and MAR interpretation errors have decreased significantly. This benefits analysis demonstrated a positive impact on patient safety, quality of care and medication management.