[Clinical decision support: Is the number of medication errors reduced?]

Abstract

22 papers on clinical decision support (CDS) for computer physician order entry (CPOE) and the ability to reduce medication errors were reviewed. Among the 22 original clinical trials, 21 demonstrated a reduced number of medication errors after the implementation of CDS. The effect was strongest for 2nd and 3rd generation of the CDS-systems. CPOE with CDS is time consuming and may generate new medication errors in itself. All the trials had poor designs. A Danish data source for CDS has not yet been established.