The Effect of a Computerized Prescribing and Calculating System on Hypo- and Hyperglycemias and on Prescribing Time Efficiency in Neonatal Intensive Care Patients

Background: Prescribing glucose requires complex calculations because glucose is present in parenteral and enteral nutrition and drug vehicles, making it error prone and contributing to the burden of prescribing errors. Objective: Evaluation of the impact of a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system with clinical decision support (CDS) for glucose control in neonatal intensive care patients (NICU) focusing on hypo- and hyperglycemic episodes and prescribing time efficiency. Methods: An interrupted time-series design to examine the effect of CPOE on hypo- and hyperglycemias and a crossover simulation study to examine the influence of CPOE on prescribing time efficiency. NICU patients at risk for glucose imbalance hospitalized at the University Medical Center Utrecht during 2001–2007 were selected. The risks of hypo- and hyperglycemias were expressed as incidences per 100 patient days in consecutive 3-month intervals during 3 years before and after CPOE implementation. To assess prescribing time efficiency, time needed to calculate glucose intake with and without CPOE was measured. Results: No significant difference was found between pre- and post-CPOE mean incidences of hypo- and hyperglycemias per 100 hospital days of neonates at risk in every 3-month period (hypoglycemias, 4.0 [95% confidence interval, 3.2–4.8] pre-CPOE and 3.1 [2.7–3.5] post-CPOE, P = .88; hyperglycemias, 6.0 [4.3–7.7] pre-CPOE and 5.0 [3.7–6.3] post-CPOE, P = .75). CPOE led to a significant time reduction of 16% (1.3 [0.3–2.3] minutes) for simple and 60% (8.6 [5.1–12.1] minutes) for complex calculations. Conclusions: CPOE including a special CDS tool preserved accuracy for calculation and control of glucose intake and increased prescribing time efficiency.