A cost comparison of pembrolizumab: Fixed and weight-based dosing.

BACKGROUND: Pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, indicated to treat multiple cancers, was initially approved in Australia as weight-based dosing at 2 mg/kg every 3 weeks (Q3W). Subsequent approvals used 'fixed' dosages of 200 mg Q3W or 400 mg every 6 weeks (Q6W). Pharmacokinetic equivalence was demonstrated between dosing strategies, with no significant differences in efficacy or toxicity. Fixed dosing regimens are routinely used in Australia. AIM: To model and compare the cost of weight-based dosing of pembrolizumab to standard fixed dosing regimens. METHOD: A single centre, retrospective review was conducted. Patients, identified from dispensing software, who commenced on pembrolizumab between January and December 2022 were included. Patient demographic and treatment data was extracted from electronic medical records. Costs of weight-based doses were calculated and compared to the cost of fixed dosing. Variables such as acquisition cost, funding mechanisms and 'vial sharing' were considered. RESULTS: Fifty-two patients were included (63% male, median age 68 years). Of the 211 doses of pembrolizumab administered (average 4.1 doses/patient), 161 were Q3W doses, and 50 were Q6W doses. The acquisition cost for a fixed 200 mg and 400 mg dose was $7646, and $15,292, respectively. The average patient weight was 77.6 kg (SD 19 kg), which equated to $5933 for a weight-based Q3W dose, and $11,867 for the Q6W dose; a potential cost avoidance of $1965 and $3930 per dose, respectively. This represented a possible 23.5% avoidance in medication acquisition cost. Over the study period of 1 year, using weight-based dosing for pembrolizumab had the potential to reduce medication expenditure by $467,996. DISCUSSION: Significant cost avoidance could be achieved via weight-based pembrolizumab dosing. Given the substantial total cost of pembrolizumab, the growing number of indications and the expected equivalent treatment outcomes with weight-based pembrolizumab, the potential cost reductions of weight-based pembrolizumab at both institution and government level should be further explored.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular disease prevention and management.

How the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected prevention and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not fully understood. In this study, we used medication data as a proxy for CVD management using routinely collected, de-identified, individual-level data comprising 1.32 billion records of community-dispensed CVD medications from England, Scotland and Wales between April 2018 and July 2021. Here we describe monthly counts of prevalent and incident medications dispensed, as well as percentage changes compared to the previous year, for several CVD-related indications, focusing on hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes. We observed a decline in the dispensing of antihypertensive medications between March 2020 and July 2021, with 491,306 fewer individuals initiating treatment than expected. This decline was predicted to result in 13,662 additional CVD events, including 2,281 cases of myocardial infarction and 3,474 cases of stroke, should individuals remain untreated over their lifecourse. Incident use of lipid-lowering medications decreased by 16,744 patients per month during the first half of 2021 as compared to 2019. By contrast, incident use of medications to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus, other than insulin, increased by approximately 623 patients per month for the same time period. In light of these results, methods to identify and treat individuals who have missed treatment for CVD risk factors and remain undiagnosed are urgently required to avoid large numbers of excess future CVD events, an indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A complex ePrescribing-based Anti-Microbial Stewardship (ePAMS+) intervention for hospitals combining technological and behavioural components: protocol for a feasibility trial.

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance is a leading global public health threat, with inappropriate use of antimicrobials in healthcare contributing to its development. Given this urgent need, we developed a complex ePrescribing-based Anti-Microbial Stewardship intervention (ePAMS+). METHODS: ePAMS+ includes educational and organisational behavioural elements, plus guideline-based clinical decision support to aid optimal antimicrobial use in hospital inpatients. ePAMS+ particularly focuses on prompt initiation of antimicrobials, followed by early review once test results are available to facilitate informed decision-making on stopping or switching where appropriate. A mixed-methods feasibility trial of ePAMS+ will take place in two NHS acute hospital care organisations. Qualitative staff interviews and observation of practice will respectively gather staff views on the technical component of ePAMS+ and information on their use of ePAMS+ in routine work. Focus groups will elicit staff and patient views on ePAMS+; one-to-one interviews will discuss antimicrobial stewardship with staff and will record patient experiences of receiving antibiotics and their thoughts on inappropriate prescribing. Qualitative data will be analysed thematically. Fidelity Index development will enable enactment of ePAMS+ to be measured objectively in a subsequent trial assessing the effectiveness of ePAMS+. Quantitative data collection will determine the feasibility of extracting data and deriving key summaries of antimicrobial prescribing; we will quantify variability in the primary outcome, number of antibiotic defined daily doses, to inform the future larger-scale trial design. DISCUSSION: This trial is essential to determine the feasibility of implementing the ePAMS+ intervention and measuring relevant outcomes, prior to evaluating its clinical and cost-effectiveness in a full scale hybrid cluster-randomised stepped-wedge clinical trial. Findings will be shared with study sites and with qualitative research participants and will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at academic conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The qualitative and Fidelity Index research were approved by the Health and Research Authority and the North of Scotland Research Ethics Service (ref: 19/NS/0174). The feasibility trial and quantitative analysis (protocol v1.0, 15 December 2021) were approved by the London South East Research Ethics Committee (ref: 22/LO/0204) and registered with ISRCTN ( ISRCTN 13429325 ) on 24 March 2022.

An e-Delphi study to obtain expert consensus on the level of risk associated with preventable e-prescribing events.

AIMS: We aim to seek expert opinion and gain consensus on the risks associated with a range of prescribing scenarios, preventable using e-prescribing systems, to inform the development of a simulation tool to evaluate the risk and safety of e-prescribing systems (ePRaSE). METHODS: We conducted a two-round e-Delphi survey where expert participants were asked to score pre-designed prescribing scenarios using a five-point Likert scale to ascertain the likelihood of occurrence of the prescribing event, likelihood of occurrence of harm and the severity of the harm. RESULTS: Twenty-four experts consented to participate with 15 pand 13 participants completing rounds 1 and 2, respectively. Experts agreed on the level of risk associated with 136 out of 178 clinical scenarios with 131 scenarios categorised as high or extreme risk. CONCLUSION: We identified 131 extreme or high-risk prescribing scenarios that may be prevented using e-prescribing clinical decision support. The prescribing scenarios represent a variety of categories, with drug-disease contraindications being the most frequent, representing 37 (27%) scenarios, and antimicrobial agents being the most common drug class, representing 28 (21%) of the scenarios. Our e-Delphi study has achieved expert consensus on the risk associated with a range of clinical scenarios with most of the scenarios categorised as extreme or high risk. These prescribing scenarios represent the breadth of preventable prescribing error categories involving both basic and advanced clinical decision support. We will use the findings of this study to inform the development of the e-prescribing risk and safety evaluation tool.

Variation in approaches to antimicrobial use surveillance in high-income secondary care settings: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: In secondary care, antimicrobial use (AMU) must be monitored to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance and infection-related complications. However, there is variation in how hospitals address this challenge, partly driven by each site's level of digital maturity, expertise and resources available. This systematic review investigated approaches to measuring AMU to explore how these structural differences may present barriers to engagement with AMU surveillance. METHODS: We searched four digital databases and the websites of relevant organizations for studies in high-income, inpatient hospital settings that estimated AMU in adults. Excluded studies focused exclusively on antiviral or antifungal therapies. Data were extracted data on 12 fields (study description, data sources, data extraction methods and professionals involved in surveillance). Proportions were estimated with 95% CIs. RESULTS: We identified 145 reports of antimicrobial surveillance from Europe (63), North America (53), Oceania (14), Asia (13) and across more than continent (2) between 1977 and 2018. Of 145 studies, 47 carried out surveillance based on digital data sources. In regions with access to electronic patient records, 26/47 studies employed manual methods to extract the data. The majority of identified professionals involved in these studies were clinically trained (87/93). CONCLUSIONS: Even in regions with access to electronic datasets, hospitals rely on manual data extraction for this work. Data extraction is undertaken by healthcare professionals, who may have conflicting priorities. Reducing barriers to engagement in AMU surveillance requires investment in methods, resources and training so that hospitals can extract and analyse data already contained within electronic patient records.

A cross-country time and motion study to measure the impact of electronic medication management systems on the work of hospital pharmacists in Australia and England.

BACKGROUND: Qualitative studies have provided important insights into how hospital pharmacists' work changes when electronic medication management (EMM) systems are introduced. Quantitative studies of work practice change are rare. Despite the use of EMM systems internationally, there are no cross-country comparative studies of their impact on health professionals' work. We aimed to quantify and compare the type and magnitude of changes in hospital pharmacists' work pre- and post-EMM implementation in two countries. METHODS: Parallel, direct observational, time and motion studies of pharmacists in Australia and England pre- and post-EMM implementation. 20 pharmacists were observed: 9 in an Australian 440-bed hospital (155 h); and 11 pharmacists in a 500-bed English hospital (258 h). The Work Observation Method By Activity Timing (WOMBAT) software was used to collect observational data. Proportions of observed time in 11 tasks by study period (pre- versus post-EMM) and site, time spent with others or alone, and using different tools (e.g computers, paper) were calculated. Magnitude of changes between pre- and post-EMM by task and country were determined using z-tests for proportions adjusting for multiple testing. RESULTS: At baseline, Australian and English pharmacists spent the greatest proportion of time in medication review. Post-EMM, time in medication review (Australia 21.6%-27.5%; England 27.1%-33.8%) and history-taking (Australia 7.6%-13.3%; England 19.5%-28.9%) significantly increased. Despite country differences in these tasks at baseline, the magnitude of changes did not significantly differ. English pharmacists increased time engaged in medication discussions with patients post-EMM (from 5.9% to 10.8%; p = 0.01). The Australian rate did not change (18.0%-27.2%; p = 0.09), but was higher at baseline. Post-EMM, Australian pharmacists spent 63.4% of time working alone, compared to 92.0% for English pharmacists. CONCLUSIONS: EMM systems impacted the same core areas of work and had a similar magnitude of effect on pharmacists' work in both countries. Anticipated reductions in medication review and history taking were not observed.

Impact of a commercial order entry system on prescribing errors amenable to computerised decision support in the hospital setting: a prospective pre-post study.

BACKGROUND: In this UK study, we investigated the impact of computerised physician order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support (CDS) implementation on the rate of 78 high-risk prescribing errors amenable to CDS. METHODS: We conducted a preintervention/postintervention study in three acute hospitals in England. A predefined list of prescribing errors was incorporated into an audit tool. At each site, approximately 4000 prescriptions were reviewed both pre-CPOE and 6 months post-CPOE implementation. The number of opportunities for error and the number of errors that occurred were collated. Error rates were then calculated and compared between periods, as well as by the level of CDS. RESULTS: The prescriptions of 1244 patients were audited pre-CPOE and 1178 post-CPOE implementation. A total of 28 526 prescriptions were reviewed, with 21 138 opportunities for error identified based on 78 defined errors. Across the three sites, for those prescriptions where opportunities for error were identified, the error rate was found to reduce significantly post-CPOE implementation, from 5.0% to 4.0% (P<0.001). CDS implementation by error type was found to differ significantly between sites, ranging from 0% to 88% across clinical contraindication, dose/frequency, drug interactions and other error types (P<0.001). Overall, 43/78 (55%) of the errors had some degree of CDS implemented in at least one of the hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of CPOE with CDS was associated with clinically important reductions in the rate of high-risk prescribing errors. Given the pre-post design, these findings however need to be interpreted with caution. The occurrence of errors was found to be highly dependent on the level of restriction of CDS presented to the prescriber, with the effect that different configurations of the same CPOE system can produce very different results.

A survey exploring National Health Service ePrescribing Toolkit use and perceived usefulness amongst English hospitals.

BACKGROUND: There is currently limited guidance for hospitals to implement ePrescribing systems. We have developed an ePrescribing Toolkit designed to support ongoing implementation, adoption and optimisation of efforts. AIM: To investigate the perceived usefulness, reported use and areas for further development of the Toolkit by ePrescribing implementers in English hospitals. METHODS: Questionnaire-based survey of hospitals that have or are interested in implementing ePrescribing systems. RESULTS: We received responses from a total of 78 individuals representing 49 English NHS Trusts (out of 82 different Trusts who were emailed the survey, 60% response rate). The overwhelming majority of respondents (92%) were familiar with the ePrescribing Toolkit and 66% reported using it to guide their ongoing implementation efforts. The majority of ePrescribing Toolkit users (85%) viewed it as a helpful resource. Implementers particularly valued the case studies describing lessons learnt from hospitals that had already implemented ePrescribing systems. Suggestions for improvement included more information in relation to the progress of hospitals implementing systems, the names of key contacts in these sites, a list of available systems and the contact details of ePrescribing vendors. Respondents also highlighted the need for more information on optimisation and specialist prescribing. CONCLUSIONS: Interactive elements and learning lessons from early adopter sites that had accumulated experiences of implementing systems was viewed as the most helpful aspect of the ePrescribing Toolkit. The Toolkit now needs to be further developed to facilitate the continuing implementation/optimisation of ePrescribing and other health information technology across the NHS.

Investigating the ways in which health information technology can promote antimicrobial stewardship: a conceptual overview.

Antimicrobial resistance is now recognised as a threat to health worldwide. Antimicrobial stewardship aims to promote the responsible use of antibiotics and is high on international and national policy agendas. Health information technology has the potential to support antimicrobial stewardship in a number of ways, but this field is still poorly characterised and understood. Building on a recent systematic review and expert roundtable discussions, we take a lifecycle perspective of antibiotic use in hospitals and identify potential targets for health information technology-based interventions to support antimicrobial stewardship. We aim for this work to help chart a future research agenda in this critically important area.

Five key recommendations for the implementation of Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration systems in Scotland.

NHS Scotland is about to embark on the implementation of Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA) systems. There are a number of risks associated with such ventures, thus drawing on existing experiences from other settings is crucial in informing deployment.Drawing on our previous and ongoing work in English settings as well as the international literature, we reflect on key lessons that NHS Scotland may wish to consider in going forward. These deliberations include recommendations surrounding key aspects of deployment strategy surrounding: 1) the way central coordination should be conceptualised, 2) how flexibility in can be ensured, 3) paying attention to optimising systems from the outset, 4) how expertise should be developed and centrally shared, and 5) ways in which learning from experience can be maximised.Our five recommendations will, we hope, provide a starting point for the strategic deliberations of policy makers. Throughout this journey, it is important to view the deployment of HEPMA as part of a wider strategic goal of creating integrated digital infrastructures across Scotland.

The Role of Technology in Medication Safety Incidents: Interpretative Analysis of Patient Safety Incidents Data.

This is a study of medication safety incidents reported to the NHS in England (UK) associated with the use of digital technology. An interpretative analysis of 888 incidents reports offers insight into uses and features of this technology associated with medication errors and potential patient harm.

A literature review of the training offered to qualified prescribers to use electronic prescribing systems: why is it so important?

OBJECTIVES: A key element of the implementation and ongoing use of an electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) system is ensuring that users are, and remain, sufficiently trained to use the system. Studies have suggested that insufficient training is associated with suboptimal use. However, it is not clear from these studies how clinicians are trained to use ePrescribing systems or the effectiveness of different approaches. We sought to describe the various approaches used to train qualified prescribers on ePrescribing systems and to identify whether users were educated about the pitfalls and challenges of using these systems. METHODS: We performed a literature review, using a systematic approach across three large databases: Cumulative Index Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase and Medline were searched for relevant English language articles. Articles that explored the training of qualified prescribers on ePrescribing systems in a hospital setting were included. KEY FINDINGS: Our search of 'all training' approaches returned 1155 publications, of which seven were included. A separate search of 'online' training found three relevant publications. Training methods in the 'all training' category included clinical scenarios, demonstrations and assessments. Regarding 'online' training approaches; a team at the University of Victoria in Canada developed a portal containing simulated versions of electronic health records, where individuals could prescribe for fictitious patients. Educating prescribers about the challenges and pitfalls of electronic systems was rarely discussed. CONCLUSIONS: A number of methods are used to train prescribers; however, the lack of papers retrieved suggests a need for additional studies to inform training methods.

Qualitative analysis of multi-disciplinary round-table discussions on the acceleration of benefits and data analytics through hospital electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) systems.

BACKGROUND: Electronic systems that facilitate prescribing, administration and dispensing of medicines (ePrescribing systems) are at the heart of international efforts to improve the safety, quality and efficiency of medicine management. Considering the initial costs of procuring and maintaining ePrescribing systems, there is a need to better understand how to accelerate and maximise the financial benefits associated with these systems. OBJECTIVES: We sought to investigate how different sectors are approaching the realisation of returns on investment from ePrescribing systems in U.K. hospitals and what lessons can be learned for future developments and implementation strategies within healthcare settings. METHOD: We conducted international, multi-disciplinary, round-table discussions with 21 participants from different backgrounds including policy makers, healthcare organisations, academic researchers, vendors and patient representatives. The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed and then thematically analysed with the qualitative analysis software NVivo10. RESULTS: There was an over-riding concern that realising financial returns from ePrescribing systems was challenging. The underlying reasons included substantial fixed costs of care provision, the difficulties in radically changing the medicines management process and the lack of capacity within NHS hospitals to analyse and exploit the digital data being generated. Any future data strategy should take into account the need to collect and analyse local and national data (i.e. within and across hospitals), setting comparators to measure progress (i.e. baseline measurements) and clear standards guiding data management so that data are comparable across settings. CONCLUSIONS: A more coherent national approach to realising financial benefits from ePrescribing systems is needed as implementations progress and the range of tools to collect information will lead to exponential data growth. The move towards more sophisticated closed-loop systems that integrate prescribing, administration and dispensing, as well as increasingly empowered patients accessing their data through portals and portable devices, will accelerate these developments. Meaningful analysis of data will be the key to realise benefits associated with systems.

Qualitative analysis of vendor discussions on the procurement of Computerised Physician Order Entry and Clinical Decision Support systems in hospitals.

OBJECTIVES: We studied vendor perspectives about potentially transferable lessons for implementing organisations and national strategies surrounding the procurement of Computerised Physician Order Entry (CPOE)/Clinical Decision Support (CDS) systems in English hospitals. SETTING: Data were collected from digitally audio-recorded discussions from a series of CPOE/CDS vendor round-table discussions held in September 2014 in the UK. PARTICIPANTS: Nine participants, representing 6 key vendors operating in the UK, attended. The discussions were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. RESULTS: Vendors reported a range of challenges surrounding the procurement and contracting processes of CPOE/CDS systems, including hospitals' inability to adequately assess their own needs and then select a suitable product, rushed procurement and implementation processes that resulted in difficulties in meaningfully engaging with vendors, as well as challenges relating to contracting leading to ambiguities in implementation roles. Consequently, relationships between system vendors and hospitals were often strained, the vendors attributing this to a lack of hospital management's appreciation of the complexities associated with implementation efforts. Future anticipated challenges included issues surrounding the standardisation of data to enable their aggregation across systems for effective secondary uses, and implementation of data exchange with providers outside the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that there are significant issues surrounding capacity to procure and optimise CPOE/CDS systems among UK hospitals. There is an urgent need to encourage more synergistic and collaborative working between providers and vendors and for a more centralised support for National Health Service hospitals, which draws on a wider body of experience, including a formalised procurement framework with value-based product specifications.

The impact of electronic prescribing systems on pharmacists' time and workflow: protocol for a time-and-motion study in English NHS hospitals.

INTRODUCTION: Electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) systems are rapidly being introduced into National Health Systems (NHS) hospitals in England following their widespread earlier adoption into primary care settings. Such systems require substantial changes in the way pharmacists organise their work and perform their roles. There is however as yet limited evidence on the extent to which these changes may support or compromise efficient and safe working practices by pharmacists. Identifying and quantifying these changes, and their effects, is central to informing system and work practice design, as well as informing training and implementation processes. This protocol describes a study to measure the impact of ePrescribing systems on pharmacists' time and workflow. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A direct observational controlled pre-post implementation time-and-motion study will be conducted in six wards at one NHS Trust over two observational periods. Pharmacists will be shadowed and details of all work tasks performed will be collected and time-stamped. Task distribution, frequency and duration will be measured and changes in these measures preimplementation and postimplementation, and between control and intervention wards will be measured. Interviews with pharmacists will investigate their perceptions of the impact of the ePrescribing systems on their work and will be conducted in both periods. The extent to which pharmacists' expectations of the impact of the ePrescribing systems on their work with postimplementation reports will be qualitatively explored, as will any differences between perceptions and results from the time-and-motion analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Institutional research ethics approval has been obtained from The University of Edinburgh. Local approval from the participating NHS Trust and informed consent from participating pharmacists have been obtained, while also complying with local governance requirements. The results of the study will be presented at conferences, published in peer-reviewed journals, and shared with members of our Patient and Public Involvement Group, to facilitate wider dissemination.

Using stakeholder perspectives to develop an ePrescribing toolkit for NHS Hospitals: a questionnaire study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how an online toolkit may support ePrescribing deployments in National Health Service hospitals, by assessing the type of knowledge-based resources currently sought by key stakeholders. DESIGN: Questionnaire-based survey of attendees at a national ePrescribing symposium. SETTING: 2013 National ePrescribing Symposium in London, UK. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-four delegates were eligible for inclusion in the survey, of whom 70 completed and returned the questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Estimate of the usefulness and type of content to be included in an ePrescribing toolkit. RESULTS: Interest in a toolkit designed to support the implementation and use of ePrescribing systems was high (n = 64; 91.4%). As could be expected given the current dearth of such a resource, few respondents (n = 2; 2.9%) had access or used an ePrescribing toolkit at the time of the survey. Anticipated users for the toolkit included implementation (n = 62; 88.6%) and information technology (n = 61; 87.1%) teams, pharmacists (n = 61; 87.1%), doctors (n = 58; 82.9%) and nurses (n = 56; 80.0%). Summary guidance for every stage of the implementation (n = 48; 68.6%), planning and monitoring tools (n = 47; 67.1%) and case studies of hospitals' experiences (n = 45; 64.3%) were considered the most useful types of content. CONCLUSIONS: There is a clear need for reliable and up-to-date knowledge to support ePrescribing system deployments and longer term use. The findings highlight how a toolkit may become a useful instrument for the management of knowledge in the field, not least by allowing the exchange of ideas and shared learning.

Product diversity and spectrum of choice in hospital ePrescribing Systems in England.

BACKGROUND: ePrescribing systems have considerable potential for improving healthcare quality and safety. With growing expectations about the benefits of such systems, there is evidence of widespread plans to implement these systems in hospitals in England where hitherto they have had a low uptake. Given the international drive away from developing home-grown to systems to procuring commercial applications, we aimed to identify available ePrescribing systems in England and to use the findings to develop a taxonomy of the systems offered by suppliers. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We undertook a scoping review of the published and grey literature, and conducted expert interviews with vendors, healthcare organisations and national ePrescribing experts in order to identify the spectrum of available systems, identify and map their key features, and then iteratively develop and validate a taxonomy of commercial ePrescribing systems available to English hospitals. There is a wide range of available systems including 13 hospital-wide applications and a range of specialty systems. These commercial applications can be grouped into four sub-categories: standalone systems, modules within integrated systems, functionalities spread over several modules, and specialty systems. The findings also reveal that apart from four packaged applications (two of which are specialty systems), all other systems have none or less than two live implementations across England. CONCLUSIONS: The wide range of products developed in the last few years by different national and international suppliers, and the low uptake of these products by English hospitals indicate that the English ePrescribing market is still in its infancy. This market is undergoing rapid cycles of change, both with respect to the number of suppliers and their diversity of offerings. Constant renewal of knowledge is needed on the status of this evolving market, encompassing the products development and adoption, to assist implementation decisions and facilitate market maturity.

Evaluation of medium-term consequences of implementing commercial computerized physician order entry and clinical decision support prescribing systems in two 'early adopter' hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the medium-term consequences of implementing commercially procured computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support (CDS) systems in 'early adopter' hospitals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In-depth, qualitative case study in two hospitals using a CPOE or a CDS system for at least 2 years. Both hospitals had implemented commercially available systems. Hospital A had implemented a CPOE system (with basic decision support), whereas hospital B invested additional resources in a CDS system that facilitated order entry but which was integrated with electronic health records and offered more advanced CDS. We used a combination of documentary analysis of the implementation plans, audiorecorded semistructured interviews with system users, and observations of strategic meetings and systems usage. RESULTS: We collected 11 documents, conducted 43 interviews, and conducted a total of 21.5 h of observations. We identified three major themes: (1) impacts on individual users, including greater legibility of prescriptions, but also some accounts of increased workloads; (2) the introduction of perceived new safety risks related to accessibility and usability of hardware and software, with users expressing concerns that some problems such as duplicate prescribing were more likely to occur; and (3) realizing organizational benefits through secondary uses of data. CONCLUSIONS: We identified little difference in the medium-term consequences of a CPOE and a CDS system. It is important that future studies investigate the medium- and longer-term consequences of CPOE and CDS systems in a wider range of hospitals.