Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) fell by 67,000 between 2010 and 2013 as the result of the federal “meaningful use” program that offered financial incentives to hospitals for using certified Electronic Health Records (EHRs), according to a new Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) study.

Adverse Drug Events are harms experienced by a patient as a result of exposure to a medication. They affect nearly 5 percent of hospitalized patients and can be deadly. To minimize such harms, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated the meaningful use program in 2010, awarding financial incentives to hospitals and physicians who adopted specific Information Technology (IT) capabilities, such as computerized prescriber order entry.

The new AHRQ study in Journal of the American Informatics Association found that the growth in meaningful use-related IT explained 22 percent of the observed reduction in ADEs in the first three years of the program. Read more; access the abstract.

The Great Plains QIN is partnering with providers, pharmacists and stakeholders in the region to reduce and monitor ADE rates. Learn more about this partnership on our Medication Safety web page.