Research and Projects: AHRQ THQIT and SRD Portfolio

Florida

HIT for Medication Safety in Critical Access Hospitals

Description:  Develops an implementation plan for pharmacy health information systems in critical access hospitals to include an onsite survey of health IT, flowcharting the medication use system, and an assessment of resources.

Abstract:  DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Up to 98,000 deaths occur annually in the United States because of medical errors, with medication errors contributing as many as 7,000 deaths. A stream of research has shown that health information technology can reduce medication errors in prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, and administration of medications. Consequently, IOM recommends increased adoption of health information technology in healthcare. Our purpose is to develop an implementation plan for pharmacy health information systems in critical access hospitals (CAH). Development partners are Florida's 12 current CAHs, the University of Florida's College of Pharmacy, Shands Healthcare, Florida Medical Quality Assurance, Inc., and the Florida DOH Office of Rural Health. Partners have been involved in patient safety projects in CAHS for two years. CAHs are in need of health information technology. Most CAHs have no staffing for concurrent prescription order review, have limited access to drug information, no pharmacy information system or other technologies, and very limited financial resources; add to this a low patient census. These challenges define the development of the strategic implementation plan for pharmacy information systems in CAHs. The six-month planning period will include an onsite survey of HIT, flowcharting the medication use system, an assessment of resources, and other characteristics. Survey information is condensed and presented for discussion in a first summit. Summit 1 is to develop a request for vendor applications. Summit 2 brings together project and hospital personnel to evaluate vendor applications on pharmacy IT. Establishing a consensus on the desired system and features allows for group purchasing. Information gathered during the planning phase is used to write a strategic HIT implementation plan for all CAHs, balancing human and technology factors. Doctor's Memorial Hospital will serve as a showcase model for the pharmacy health information technology that will be implemented in all critical access hospitals in a following phase.

Year 1 Funding:  $147,831

Estimated Total Funding:  $147,831

Principal Investigator:  Abraham Hartzema

Applicant Institution:  Doctor's Memorial Hospital

City/Town:  Bonifay, Florida

State:  Florida

Grant Number:  P20 HS15325

Category:  Planning Grants (THQIT)

Thesaurus Terms:  health care facility information system, health care service planning, hospital, patient safety /medical error, pharmacy administration, rural area, computer assisted patient care, emergency care, pharmacy, regional medical planning, rural health, health services research tag

Project Start Date:  Sep 30, 2004

Project End Date:  Sep 29, 2005