PMD38 META ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON MEDICATION SAFETY IN HOSPITALS: AN INTERRUPTED TIME SERIES STUDY

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Several studies have examined the effects of intervention related to health information technology like the Electronic Prescribing (eRx) system on hospital medication safety. However, these studies had relatively small sample sizes with highly variable results. The study objective is to perform meta-analyses systematically review and quantify the effects of intervention related to Electronic Prescribing system on hospital medication safety. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and two other databases were searched from 1998 to 2010 for studies assessing the usage of Electronic Prescribing in hospitals. Among 29 papers obtained using data extraction, a total of 9 studies discussing pre and post (Time series study) utilization of Electronic Prescribing were chosen to study their impact on the medication safety of the patients. Out of the 9 studies, 6 studies involved inpatient settings and the remaining 3 studies involved outpatient settings. In order to quantify the effects of Electronic Prescribing system on hospital medication safety, we used the Meta analysis by STATA®SE version10. RESULTS: Overall, medication safety was significantly improved in intervention group involving Electronic Prescribing system (OR= 1.97, p=0.002) compared with control group utilizing handwriting system. Specifically, medication safety in inpatient settings was significantly improved in Electronic Prescribing system intervention group (OR= 2.08, p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The usage of Electronic Prescribing allows entry and retrieval of patient clinical information at the point of care, thereby enhancing delivery of quality healthcare services and lowering delivery costs for those services.