CPOE Snapshot

Scottsdale Institute's Inside Edge
September 1, 2008

...CPOE has become a focus of NEHI, a five-year old nonprofit created by local healthcare leaders to facilitate dialogue among all the disparate players in the healthcare industry and drive change through evidence-based research. “CPOE is the poster child for what we do,” says Nick King, NEHI’s VP of communications. A NEHI-sponsored report in 2003 identified seven key technologies that could advance quality and reduce medical errors. “CPOE rose to the top of the list,” he says. 

The study has already contributed to policy change. Shortly after publication, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Tufts Health Plan announced they’d require hospitals to have CPOE by 2012 in order to participate in their quality incentive programs. Subsequently the Massachusetts legislature passed a law requiring hospitals to have CPOE as a condition of licensure. “It’s a carrot and stick approach in one state,” says King. [The report, “Saving Lives, Saving Money,” is available at www.nehi.net.]...

Link to Full Article: http://www.scottsdaleinstitute.org/Documents/IE/InsideEdge_2008-09.CPOE.pdf