Prevalence of computerized physician order entry systems-related medication prescription errors: A systematic review

Objective: The positive impact of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems on prescription safety must be considered in light of the persistence of certain types of medication-prescription errors. We performed a systematic review, based on the PRISMA statement, to analyze the prevalence of prescription errors related to the use of CPOE systems.

Materials and methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, DBLP, the International Clinical Trials Registry, the ISI Web of Science, and reference lists of relevant articles from March 1982 to August 2017. We included original peer-reviewed studies which quantitatively reported medication-prescription errors related to CPOE. We analyzed the prevalence of medication-prescription errors according to an adapted version of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP) taxonomy and assessed the mechanisms responsible for each type of prescription error due to CPOE.

Results: Fourteen studies were included. The prevalence of CPOE systems-related medication errors relative to all prescription medication errors ranged from 6.1 to 77.7% (median = 26.1% [IQR:17.6-42,1]) and was less than 6.3% relative to the number of prescriptions reviewed. All studies reported "wrong dose" and "wrong drug" errors. The "wrong dose" error was the most frequently reported (from 7 to 67.4%, median = 31.5% [IQR:20.5-44.5]). We report the associated mechanism for each type of medication described (those due to CPOE or those occurring despite CPOE).

Discussion: We observed very heterogeneous results, probably due to the definition of error, the type of health information system used for the study, and the data collection method used. Each data collection method provides valuable and useful information concerning the prevalence and specific types of errors related to CPOE systems.

Conclusions: The reporting of prescription errors should be continued because the weaknesses of CPOE systems are potential sources of error. Analysis of the mechanisms behind CPOE errors can reveal areas for improvement.