2008

Summa recognized for CPOE best practices

8 December, 2008

Akron, Ohio - Summa Health System is pleased to receive a risk management award from American Excess Insurance Exchange, RRG (AEIX) for the successful risk management applications implemented in its Computerized Physician Order Entry system (CPOE).

AEIX annually rewards non-profit healthcare systems for innovative solutions that increase patient safety and help eliminate risk. Award winners must demonstrate in measurable terms the degree to which risk has been reduced by their new program, how patient safety has been enhanced and the ability to share their best practices to help other hospitals achieve similar success. AEIX is a professional liability insurance organization managed by Premier Insurance Management Services, a subsidiary of Premier, Inc.

Summa's CPOE project was one of four national winners in the 2008 competition. The placement of "hard stops" in the CPOE system to prevent healthcare providers from acting on orders that might deviate from preferred safety practices was a key element to the success of the program and to the award determination. Summa will receive the award before an audience of 2,000 next June at Premier's annual Breakthroughs Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

"This recognition is significant because it focuses on the importance of technology and risk management in the delivery of patient care," said William A. Powel, III, vice president and general counsel for Summa Health System. "Using evidence-based clinical order sets implemented in our CPOE system, we were able to improve the level of clinical care provided, enhance patient safety and help eliminate risks in our organization."

Summa completed its implementation of CPOE at Akron City and St. Thomas hospitals in 2007, which enables physicians to order diagnostic tests, medications, patient care orders, referrals, x-rays and electronic signatures from their office computer. Less than 10 percent of U.S. hospitals are fully equipped with CPOE, and Summa is the only health system in the Akron/Canton area to implement such a system.

Another key factor and foundation for Summa's success with CPOE was the utilization of evidence-based clinical order sets, which were created and approved through multidisciplinary teams at Summa. Availability of these clinical order sets in CPOE has resulted in successes such as avoidance of unapproved abbreviations within physician orders, significantly reducing illegibility errors within physician orders and avoidance of potential medication errors through alerts such as allergy checking and drug-drug-interactions.

About Summa Health System

Summa Health System is one of the largest organized delivery systems in Ohio. Encompassing a network of hospitals, community health centers, a health plan, a physician-hospital organization, research and a foundation, Summa is nationally renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to healthcare delivery. Summa's clinical services are consistently recognized by U.S. News and World Report, Thomson Healthcare (formerly Solucient) and The Leapfrog Group. For more information, visit www.summahealth.org.