Successful implementation of a proposed solution such as computerized physician order entry (CPOE) is a challenging process for any healthcare organization. This requires a multidisciplinary team approach for the best outcome. In these cases, health care organizations might face an ethical dilemma at some stages. To best navigate these challenges, health care organizations need to follow four fundamentals of ethics-autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice.
Autonomy refers to the right to decide for themselves. CPOE enables providers to issue orders electronically. The COPE implementation will provide access to support providers and other clinicians in the ordering process and thus improve patient safety and quality of care. Not everyone is computer savvy. Therefore, besides computer -related literacy, exploring end- user attitudes and expectations will help to understand the factors that influence adherence to new technology in health care (Nymberg, et.al.,2019). This can be assessed during clinical workshops and monthly meetings or by doing surveys.
Beneficence and non-maleficence are closely related. These are often described as “Do what is best for the patient “or “Do not harm”. The implementation of CPOE has reduced the rate of potential medication errors. This implementation supports coordination of clinical tasks among patient care teams, reduction of misinterpretation of orders, minimization of illegible orders, assistance with medication dosage calculations, and decision support using alerts like drug-drug interactions, drug allergy, and dosage suggestions (Abraham, et.al.,2018). Creating policies and protocols for verifying high alert medication is another implementation that the administration should place to avoid medication errors.
Justice, the fourth ethical principle, means giving fair, equitable and appropriate treatment to each individual. Patient safety should be the topmost priority in the health care setting. Implementation of the CPOE system in the health care system provides appropriate treatment to patients because of its various safety levels with basic information to facilitate prescription such as maximum dose, predefined regimens, duplication, length of treatment, drug interactions, etc.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a medication error is a prevalent issue in the healthcare system and it impacts patients of all ages irrespective of their diagnosis and age. Reading and analyzing multiple peer- reviewed articles and journals provided me with factual and credible supportive statements for this research paper. Some factors that contribute to medication errors are a transcription error, look alike, and sound alike medication. A potential solution to resolve this issue includes nurse continuation education, verification of high alert mediation with another registered nurse, and introduction of standardized order entry such as CPOE. Successful implementation of these potential solutions would likely improve patient safety in regard to medication error.
Abraham, J., Kannampallil, T. G., Jarman, A., Sharma, S., Rash, C., Schiff, G., & Galanter, W. (2017). Reasons for computerized provider Order Entry (CPOE)-based inpatient medication ordering errors: An observational study of voided orders. BMJ Quality & Safety, 27(4), 299–307. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2017-006606
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