UM-CareLink Gets Ready to Take Off!
OMP prepares to launch the Health System’s new electronic ordering system
What happens when a handwritten prescription arrives at the pharmacy and it’s difficult to decipher if the physician wants 1,000 or 100 mg administered? Or if a paper order
for a patient’s CT scan is accidentally shuffled into the wrong pile? In some cases, mistakes have serious consequences. In other cases, they are simply annoying to clinicians and patients alike. Soon, we will be able to avoid these potential errors with
electronic ordering.
Later this year, the Health System will roll out UM-CareLink, a system that lets clinicians electronically place inpatient and other selected orders. Obstetrics and Gynecology is the first area to “go live,” with other areas following throughout 2006 and beyond. UM-CareLink is part of the Orders Management Project, a broader effort to improve the quality and safety of patient care at UMHS. OMP is led by Shon Dwyer and supported by a team of more than 100 clinicians and information technology specialists.
UM-CareLink addresses medication errors—the largest patient safety concern in hospitals nationwide—by eliminating the risks associated with written orders and multiple “handoffs” of information between providers. It also reduces the time it takes toget medication from the hospital pharmacy to the patient’s bedside.
Units will be trained on UM-CareLink using a combination of classroom and online sessions. Staff can expect to receive training information from their managers as each unit’s go-live date approaches. Support will be available to users once the system is activated.
By implementing UM-CareLink, the Health System is using improved information technology to make patient care better and safer, and our workflow more efficient.
For more information,visit www.med.umich.edu/i/omp.
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