Computerized Provider Order Entry Redux

The authors from Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, Wash present mortality data regarding children admitted to their Pediatric Intensive Care Unit during a 26-month study period (October 2002–December 2004). The time period included 13 months prior to implementation of a hospital-wide computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system and 13 months after implementation. Data collected included demographic information, PRISM III score (a severity-of-illness measurement based on 21 physiologic variables) with standardized mortality,¹ and primary diagnosis categories on all 2533 admissions. This study was prompted by an earlier report of increased mortality associated with CPOE implementation among transported ICU patients.²

Of the 2533 …