Rainu Kaushal

Return on Investment for a Computerized Physician Order Entry System

OBJECTIVE Although computerized physician order entry (CPOE) may decrease errors and improve quality, hospital adoption has been slow. The high costs and limited data on financial benefits of CPOE systems are a major barrier to adoption. The authors assessed the costs and financial benefits of the CPOE system at Brigham and Womens Hospital over ten years. DESIGN Cost and benefit estimates of a hospital CPOE system at Brigham and Womens Hospital (BWH), a 720-adult bed, tertiary care, academic hospital in Boston. MEASUREMENTS Institutional experts provided data about the costs of the CPOE system. Benefits were determined from published studies of the BWH CPOE system, interviews with hospital experts, and relevant internal documents. Net overall savings to the institution and operating budget savings were determined. All data are presented as value figures represented in 2002 dollars. RESULTS Between 1993 and 2002, the BWH spent

How to avoid paediatric medication errors: a user’s guide to the literature

11.8 million to develop, implement, and operate CPOE. Over ten years, the system saved BWH

Health Care Consumers’ Preferences Around Health Information Exchange

28.5 million for cumulative net savings of

Safety Climate and Medical Errors in 62 US Emergency Departments

16.7 million and net operating budget savings of

Electronic health record adoption and health information exchange among hospitals in New York State

9.5 million given the institutional 80% prospective reimbursement rate. The CPOE system elements that resulted in the greatest cumulative savings were renal dosing guidance, nursing time utilization, specific drug guidance, and adverse drug event prevention. The CPOE system at BWH has resulted in substantial savings, including operating budget savings, to the institution over ten years. CONCLUSION Other hospitals may be able to save money and improve patient safety by investing in CPOE systems.

The Who, What, and Why of Risk Adjustment: A Technology on the Cusp of Adoption

The National Health Service, in its report An organisation with memory, has called for a fundamental rethinking of the way the healthcare system learns from error.1 The NHS further details its goal to reduce serious medication errors by 40% in a second report entitled Building a safer NHS: improving medication safety.2 This report calls for a review of paediatric medication delivery systems to assess safety for children.

Racial/ethnic differences in emergency care for joint dislocation in 53 US EDs☆☆☆

PURPOSE Consumer buy-in is important for the success of widespread federal initiatives to promote the use of health information exchange (HIE). Little is known, however, of consumers’ preferences around the storing and sharing of electronic health information. We conducted a study to better understand consumer preferences regarding the privacy and security of HIE. METHODS In 2008 we conducted a cross-sectional, random digit dial telephone survey of residents in the Hudson Valley of New York State, a state where patients must affirmatively consent to having their data accessed through HIE. RESULTS There was an 85% response rate (N = 170) for the survey. Most consumers would prefer that permission be obtained before various parties, including their clinician, could view their health information through HIE. Most consumers wanted any method of sharing their health information to have safeguards in place to protect against unauthorized viewing (86%). They also wanted to be able to see who has viewed their information (86%), to stop electronic storage of their data (84%), to stop all viewing (83%), and to select which parts of their health information are shared (78%). Among the approximately one-third (n = 54) of consumers who were uncomfortable with automatic inclusion of their health information in an electronic database for HIE, 78% wished to approve all information explicitly, and most preferred restricting information by clinician (83%), visit (81%), or information type (88%). CONCLUSION Consumers in a state with an opt-in consent policy are interested in having greater control over the privacy and security of their electronic health information. These preferences should be considered when developing and implementing systems, standards and policies.

Improving immunization data management: an editorial on the potential of Electronic Health Records.

STUDY OBJECTIVE We describe the incidence and types of medical errors in emergency departments (EDs) and assess the validity of a survey instrument that identifies systems factors contributing to errors in EDs. METHODS We conducted the National Emergency Department Safety Study in 62 urban EDs across 20 US states. We reviewed 9,821 medical records of ED patients with one of 3 conditions (myocardial infarction, asthma exacerbation, and joint dislocation) to evaluate medical errors. We also obtained surveys from 3,562 staff randomly selected from each ED; survey data were used to calculate average safety climate scores for each ED. RESULTS We identified 402 adverse events (incidence rate 4.1 per 100 patient visits; 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.7 to 4.5) and 532 near misses (incidence rate 5.4 per 100 patient visits; 95% CI 5.0 to 5.9). We judged 37% of the adverse events, and all of the near misses, to be preventable (errors); 33% of the near misses were intercepted. In multivariable models, better ED safety climate was not associated with fewer preventable adverse events (incidence rate ratio per 0.2-point increase in ED safety score 0.82; 95% CI 0.57 to 1.16) but was associated with more intercepted near misses (incidence rate ratio 1.79; 95% CI 1.06 to 3.03). We found no association between safety climate and violations of national treatment guidelines. CONCLUSION Among the 3 ED conditions studied, medical errors are relatively common, and one third of adverse events are preventable. Improved ED safety climate may increase the likelihood that near misses are intercepted.

Correlates of Electronic Health Record Adoption in Office Practices: A Statewide Survey

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Unprecedented national and state initiatives are underway to promote adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) with health information exchange (HIE). New York State leads the nation in state initiatives and is conducting ongoing surveillance of its investments. Lessons learned from studying states like New York can inform federal policies and will be essential to evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives. We undertook this first in a series of planned surveys to assess EHR adoption and HIE activities by New York State hospitals. METHODS Between May and December 2009, we surveyed all New York State hospitals to determine rates of EHR adoption, participation in HIE and implementation of functionalities associated with nine core meaningful use criteria. RESULTS We received responses from 148 (72.2%) of 205 hospitals surveyed and found that 23 (15.5%) had adopted an EHR and 29 (23.2%) were participating in HIE. Two hospitals (1.4%) reported full implementation of the meaningful use functionalities surveyed. Public hospitals were ahead of private hospitals and notable regional differences were found. DISCUSSION EHR adoption rates and participation in HIE are higher among New York hospitals than hospitals nationwide, suggesting that state initiatives funding community EHR implementation may influence these efforts by hospitals. However, overall rates of adoption and preparedness to meet meaningful use remain low. Direct support for hospitals, such as that provided through the national EHR Incentive Program, will likely be critical for rates of EHR adoption and HIE to significantly rise, even in advanced states.

Health information technology and health information exchange in New York State: New initiatives in implementation and evaluation

Risk adjustment (RA) consists of a series of techniques that account for the health status of patients when predicting or explaining costs of health care for defined populations or for evaluating retrospectively the performance of providers who care for them. Although the federal government seems to have settled on an approach to RA for Medicare Advantage programs, adoption and implementation of RA techniques elsewhere have proceeded much more slowly than was anticipated. This article examines factors affecting the adoption and use of RA outside the Medicare program using case studies in six U.S. health care markets (Baltimore, Seattle, Denver, Cleveland, Phoenix, and Atlanta) as of 2001. We found that for purchasing decisions, RA was used exclusively by public agencies. In the private sector, use of risk adjustment was uncommon and scattered and assumed informal and unexpected forms. The most common private sector use of RA was by health plans, which occasionally employed RA in negotiations with purchasers or to allocate resources internally among providers. The article uses classic technology diffusion theory to explain the adoption and use of RA in these six markets and derives lessons for health policy generally and for the future of RA in particular. For health policy generally, the differing experiences of public and private actors with RA serve as markers of the divergent paths that public and private health care sectors are pursuing with respect to managed care and risk sharing. For the future of RA in particular, its history suggests the need for health service researchers to consider barriers to use adoption and new analytic technologies as they develop them.