Retrospective evaluation of a computerized physician order entry adaptation to prevent prescribing errors in a pediatric emergency department.
Standardizing care processes, through the use of checklists and other approaches, has been demonstrated to improve patient safety by reducing health care–associated infections and handoff errors. This study implemented a standardized "quicklist" of commonly used pediatric medications within an existing computerized provider order entry system. Although use of the quicklist was not mandatory, prescribing errors were significantly reduced, especially among those providers who used the quicklist regularly. The study provides an example of how standardization combined with decision support can improve medication safety.