title: What's so special about medications: a pharmacist's observations from the POE study.
abstract: Observations from a multi-site observational study of physician order entry (POE) confirm that implementing POE is problematic, and suggest that implementing medication order entry is particularly difficult. A pharmacist participating in the study group sought to answer the question: What makes medications different? Analysis of themes specific to medication POE in this study's large data set was undertaken using a grounded theory approach. Emerging themes in the data are explored and include: (1) order complexity and the consequences of error; (2) impacts on professional roles; (3) prescribing needs in different settings; and (4) technology impact on medication administration. Awareness of potential roadblocks and lessons learned from previous implementation attempts should help organizations considering medication POE to optimize their own strategies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Informatics & Outcomes Research, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Gorman
mesh_terms: D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D008510:Medication Systems, Hospital; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration