CPOE Improves Discharge Documentation

HEADNOTE

Computerized Physician Order Entry

Documentation on heart disease patients discharged from hospitals increased significantly with the introduction of computerized physician order entry (CPOE), according to a new survey from the Agency for Healthcare

Research and Quality (AHRQ). For patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), provision of discharge instructions improved from 3 percent to 56 percent, and provision of smoking cessation counseling rose from 1 percent to 43 percent for the CHR patients. For patients recovering from an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), smoking cessation counseling rose from 21 percent to 62 percent.

The study population included all patients 18 years and older who were discharged from Vanderbilt University Medical Center with a diagnosis of CHF or AMI between July 1, 2001 and October 31, 2003. The total study group included 286 and 290 AMI discharges in the pre-CPOE and CPOE periods, respectively, and 595 and 656 CHF discharges for the two periods. AHRQ's Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics funded the study. For more information, contact richard.hegner@ahrq.hhs.gov or call (301) 427-1859.