Information Technologies Relevant to Pharmacy Practice in Hospitals: Results of a Statewide Survey

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the extent that Florida hospitals are utilizing a variety of pharmacy-related information technology (IT) applications and contrast these results with nationwide studies regarding IT. Methods Chief Information Officers of Florida acute care hospitals were surveyed from May through October 2003. Facilities were questioned on the utilization of clinical and other IT applications, priorities, and barriers. The results of the questionnaire along with differences between small and large hospitals were examined. Results Overall, few hospitals have adopted computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and bar coded medication management (15.8% and 12.6% respectively), and only slightly more than half (50.5%) have adopted a computer-based patient record (CPR) system. Although utilization of these did not differ between small and large hospitals, larger hospitals were more likely to have a pharmacy information system (100% vs 69.6%, P = 0.004) and an automated pharmacy dispensing system (82.6% vs 30.4%, P < 0.001). Larger hospitals were also more likely to utilize most medical information retrieval services. Implementing technology to reduce medical errors and promote patient safety was cited by facilities as their number one IT priority, and lack of adequate financial support was cited as the single most important barrier to implementing IT. These results were comparable with other nationwide studies. Conclusions Florida hospitals, similar to previous hospitals studied nationwide, were found to have a slow rate of adoption of pharmacy-related IT. As a result, pharmacists are encouraged to play a more active role in collaborating with hospital leaders in order to implement these technologies at their facilities in an effort to reduce medication errors and improve the quality of care delivered to patients.