From the January/February 2011 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


Although CPOE was initially considered a major hurdle for hospitals in meeting stage one objectives, today, providers can breathe a little easier. “CPOE thresholds for meaningful use for stage one were lowered significantly, so we’re not seeing that as big of a concern as it was when the initial criteria were released,” says Boone.

For the final criteria, any licensed health care professional authorized to enter orders into the medical record per state, local and professional guidelines can use CPOE for medication orders, broadening the initial requirement from just physicians. Providers can also include medication orders for patients admitted to the emergency department. “We believe most organizations could hit that threshold just by implementing CPOE in the emergency room,” says Boone.


Hospitals that have successfully implemented CPOE and have a high adoption rate say the accomplishment puts them in a very strong position for qualifying for Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentives right away.

Phoenix Children’s Hospital has been using CPOE on the inpatient side since 2009, although it attempted to implement it much earlier. In the early 2000s, a combination of factors stood in the way: “The vendor systems were not mature enough and the clinical population was not that receptive,” says Vaidya. Today, the successful adoption of CPOE in the hospital gives a boost to the acceptance of other health IT additions necessary for meaningful use.

Physicians at Phoenix Children’s were impressed by the capabilities of CPOE as soon as it went live. Prior to the implementation, finding out how frequently a particular medication was prescribed would take days – CPOE allows for a nearly instantaneous answer and offers additional details, like which physicians ordered the medicine, in what departments and for what patients.

Prior to CPOE, hospital staff resisted every attempt to add automation to the clinical process, says Bob Sarnecki, vice president and CIO with Phoenix Children’s. “Now that we’re on CPOE, when we add additional components electronically to what we’ve built already, physicians see those as enhancements to the system they’re already using, instead of an automation process that challenges their time with the patients or in providing direct clinical care,” he says.




Plus, correctly implementing CPOE makes the health IT provisions outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 much less daunting to the average clinician, says Sarnecki, as the adoption process covers vital automation basics. “If you’re already automated, ARRA is not scary. If you haven’t done any automation, then ARRA means you have to look the CPOE beast right in the eyes,” he says.

January/February 2011 Magazine

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