Computerized Provider Order Entry Goes Live at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center.

ROSLINDALE,Mass. -- On Tuesday, July 26, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, the chronic care hospital of Hebrew SeniorLife located in Roslindale, MA, began testing the use of computerized provider order entry software following six months of preparation. Referred to as CPOE, this software will allow physicians to order medication and therapies electronically.

Fewer than 5% of all health care facilities nationally are using CPOE. As the only chronic care hospital in Massachusetts to implement this particular CPOE program, this move places Hebrew SeniorLife in the forefront of health care organizations seeking to address issues of safety and efficiency with technological solutions.

Medical Information Technology, Inc., referred to as MEDITECH, (Westwood, MA), developed Hebrew Rehabilitation Center's CPOE software. It is a special component of a MEDITECH integrated Health Care Information System that was put in place at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center more than four years ago. Going LIVE with CPOE is an important step towards the implementation of an Electronic Medical Record at Hebrew SeniorLife.

CPOE implementation represents significant changes to nursing unit workflow, including:

--Nurses will note all orders online, improving workflow and communications between the clinical and physician staff. Procedures are currently being developed that will standardize operations throughout the entire facility;

--The automation streamlines the physician's ordering process and provides the flexibility to pull commonly ordered information together that can be quickly viewed and authorized rather than having to repeatedly recreate standard sets of orders;

--CPOE has a component that will aid utilization reporting.

According to Fran Hinckley, Hebrew SeniorLife Chief Information Officer, the move to automated order entry has been a long time coming. "Currently, ordering a medication or therapy is a labor-intensive, piece-meal process that can be streamlined, simplified and improved upon," he said. "Time-consuming, costly processes will become more efficient, allowing us to have better information and control over financial and safety aspects of patient care."

Hebrew SeniorLife provides a seven-site network of senior housing and health care serving 3,000 seniors in the Greater Boston Area.