Knowledge Management Helps Cut Errors by Half

Kathleen Melymuka   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Business Intelligence Stories  

Google's Universal Search for Business Google Search Appliance - New Features Turning information into a Competitive Advantage Case Study: Pioneer Investments Universal Search in Financial Services Organizations Google Search Appliance: Providing Universal Search for Business Virtual Reality SaaS Solutions for Remote Systems Management Mobility @ the Speed of Business Sign up to receive Business Intelligence Resource Alerts

July 8, 2002 (Computerworld) -- At Partners HealthCare System Inc., which includes some of Boston's most prestigious teaching hospitals, a knowledge management system for physicians has reduced serious medication errors by 55%. John Glaser, CIO at Partners, has been at the helm of this effort for more than a decade, bringing just-in-time knowledge to bear on life-and-death decisions. In this month's Harvard Business Review, he reports on progress and lessons learned with co-author Thomas H. Davenport, director of Accenture Ltd.'s Institute for Strategic Change in Cambridge, Mass. Computerworld's Kathleen Melymuka, who first reported on the project a decade ago, spoke with Glaser recently to get an update about how the system is working.

Going way back, what was the impetus behind the knowledge management initiative? Two things were at play: We know physicians are human beings and there's too much for them to know. If we could build in help for that decision at the time of decision—where decisions are played out as action—that would have a lot of power.

That thought ran in parallel with a Harvard study that was looking at the rate of medical errors at Brigham [and Women's] and Mass. General [hospitals]. The error rate was just too high, and very simple things were causing a good chunk of the problem—things like not knowing a patient was allergic to a drug or forgetting that two drugs interacted badly.

This is the latest in a series of monthly discussions with authors of articles in the Harvard Business Review on topics of interest to IT managers.

How readily do doctors accept this unsolicited advice? We were smart in starting with advice on no-brainers: Telling that a patient is allergic to a drug or that two drugs together is a bad combination.

Would they rather we didn't tell them? Of course not. But we didn't go into a class of guidance that is debatable.

How big a factor is the extra time it takes to use the system? The biggest problem is that we're adding 30 minutes to the average 12-hour day. They're working hard already, and they're thinking, "I'm not sure I'm the guy who's making the mistakes. It's probably that other guy." But a while ago a physician pulled me aside and said, "I just want to tell you our system has saved my ass a couple times."

Continued...
1 | 2 | NEXT  

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

Knowledge Management Helps Cut Errors by Half

"Between high oil prices and the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the economic situation here in the U.S. has gone from bad..." Read more... "In Monday's IT Blogwatch..." Read more... Read more Business Intelligence posts or See all Blogs

Wall Street's collapse puts IT spending in (some) peril IBM launches Bluehouse, a Facebook for business Apple doesn't need Jobs, analyst says More top stories...

Microsoft fights Ballmer testimony in 'Vista Capable' suit Oracle tries to step up on high-end databases Laptop stolen from McCain campaign in Missouri

Opinion: Famous tech myths that just won't die Here's the scoop on widespread fables about Bill Gates, the iPhone kill switch, Internet2, Al Gore and more. 10 great Wi-Fi gadgets for work and play Add these Wi-Fi devices to your network for a new world of wireless productivity and entertainment. Chrome fades as users return to IE, Firefox Users who abandoned Firefox and Internet Explorer for Google's Chrome browser are starting to revert to their old favorites. The five best desktop Linuxes you haven't tried One of the pleasures of Linux is that you can try out different distros to see which one works best for you. Here are five to take for a spin. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland Security Apple's iPhone Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Bill Gates steps down BlackBerry Legal Battle Data Security Breaches Electronic Voting Firefox H-1B Visas HP's Boardroom Scandal Handheld Devices Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft's Vista Open Source RFID Technology SCO's Linux Fight Sarbanes-Oxley Act Spam Voice Over IP Wi-Fi Windows Meta File Vulnerability Windows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class 2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006 Salary Survey 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 IT Forecast 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 40 Years of Computerworld ASPs, Take Two Best Places to Work in IT 2003 Best Places to Work in IT 2004 Best Places to Work in IT 2005 Best Places to Work in IT 2006 Business Intelligence Home Runs Business Intelligence: Smarter BI Business Intelligence: The Future of BI CRM Goes Vertical CRM: Sober CRM Career Planning Guide 2005 Careers: IT Profession 2010 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005 Data Management: Mining for Gems Data Management: Taming Data Chaos Development: Hard-Workin' Web Sites Development: New Tools New Choices Development: The New World of Application Development Development: The Web Services Tsunami Development: Web Services Hurdles Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Worst E-commerce Grows Up E-mail/Groupware: Big Decisions Faces of Mobile IT Forecast 2006 Global Mobile Hardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple Challenges Hardware: On-Demand Un-Hyped Hardware: The Shape of Things to Come Horizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge Technologies IT Management: Guide to Managing Vendors IT Management: Navigating Global IT IT Management: Recovery Ahead IT Management: The Future of IT IT Management: The Resourceful Project Manager Innovative Technology Awards 2004 Management: Reinventing IT Microsoft in Transition Mobile/Wireless Leaders and Laggards Mobile/Wireless: The Untethered Worker Mobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge Costs Network Management: Taking Control Networking: Turbulence Ahead! Networking: VoIP Goes Mainstream Operating Systems: In the Slow Lane Operating Systems: Linux Goes Global Operating Systems: Should You Nix Unix? Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's Guide Outsourcing: Outsourcing Dangers Premier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in Class Premier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in Class ROI: Do the Math! Salary Survey 2003 Salary Survey 2004 Salary Survey 2005 Security Action Plan Security: Compliance Headaches Security: Proactive Security Security: Risk and Reward Security: Tips From Security Pros Souped-up Security Storage: Battling Complexity Storage: Cheap & Secure Data Stores Storage: Stretching Your Storage Dollars Storage: The Lean Storage Machine Storage: The New Rules of Storage Storage: The Ultimate Backup Guide Supply Chain: Missing Links Supply Chain: RFID Reality Check The Business of Security Web 2.0 Security Wireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone Windows Protection Zone The Enterprise Search Zone Software as a Service Zone See your link here

Speeding the time to intelligence Get this Computerworld report free for a limited time, compliments of SAS. Time To Intelligence -- a concept defining how long it takes to get accurate and timely information into the hands of workers who need it most. Do it slower than your competitors and your company is toast. Do it faster, you scorch them. Business Intelligence is the key to optimizing Time To Intelligence, and success there is a combination of people, policies, and technology. Download this executive briefing  From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center Register for this complimentary webcast today! Go to the webcast  Rapid application development, rapid results Download this special report now! (Source: Intersystems) All too many businesses suffer from IT infrastructures that are a hodge-podge of disconnected databases and applications. What's needed is the ability rapidly develop connected applications under a unified service-oriented architecture. InterSystems Ensemble integration environment and Cache database are effective tools in answering this need, delivering a rapid ROI. Download this white paper  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Case Study: Golder Associates Case Studies Real Customers, Real Results Psomas Achieves Global Work-Sharing and Accelerates the Mobile Worker View more whitepapers

• Knowledge Management Helps Cut Errors by Half

• Wall Street's collapse puts IT spending in (some) peril
• Microsoft fights Ballmer testimony in 'Vista Capable' suit
• IBM launches Bluehouse, a Facebook for business
• More top stories 

SAS Business and Analytics Zone No matter where your organization is on the path toward evolving your IT infrastructure, SAS can adapt to your situation to meet your long-term enterprise intelligence needs. We can help you drive intelligence evolution to the next level, while leveraging and extending the value of your existing IT investments. Learn more in the Business and Analytics Zone See All Zones

Intercept Spam & Viruses With MessageLabs MessageLabs is offering a complimentary 30 day trial of its managed Anti-virus and Anti-spam security solutions. MessageLabs guarantees complete protection against all know and unknown email threats. By providing 24 hour support, your business can increase productivity and decrease risk. Register for a complimentary trial and receive a free datasheet. Download this white paper now!

"Turning information into a Competitive Advantage" Companies today are realizing that competitive advantage is harder to sustain when based solely on gains in productivity and cost efficiency. The focus is shifting to invest more in business optimization initiatives which rely on trusted information to develop new insights that deliver better business results. But how can this be done efficiently in a business environment across multiple applications and processes. The answer is an Information Agenda - an innovative approach to transforming business information into a strategic asset for competitive advantage. View this webcast now!  See more Webcasts

Since You Asked A weekly storage column from storage analyst, Steve Duplessie of the Enterprise Strategy Group Click here to read the latest column by Steve Duplessie