Lessons Learned from 100% Implementation of CPOE in Community Hospitals

William McClatchey, MD, CMIO, Piedmont Health System, Atlanta, describes unanticipated experiences and compares the big bang approach with a gradual rollout in terms of impact on safety and adoption. Data on ADE impact demonstrates the danger of running CPOE and paper systems concurrently. Paper competencies are maintained by incorporating them in extensive downtime process and procedure documentation. Not surprisingly, the 3 hospitals now fully live on CPOE have all been named to the Most Wired list.