Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified “secondary over-triage” as a potential area of cost savings for our nation’s health care. The phenomenon of over-triage occurs when patients are transferred tw…
Hospitals may be able to significantly cut the time it takes to deliver medications to patients and complete X-rays and lab tests by having doctors fill out orders via computer rather than by hand, a new study suggests. Results showed that computerized ordering also eliminated prescription drug errors that occurred when doctors’ handwritten prescriptions were misread. The study found that computerizing physician orders cut medication turn-around times by 64 percent, cut turn-around times for X-rays and other radiology procedures by 43 percent, and reduced turn-around times for lab tests by 25 percent.