The Institute of Medicine shocked us with the results of a study showing that up to 100,000 deaths and serious disabilities occurring in hospitals each year in the United States are caused by medical errors. Who is at greatest risk? A study in the April 25, 2001 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association found the rate of errors three times higher in children than in adults. This study was conducted in academic teaching hospitals. The report estimated that 93% of the errors were preventable by replacing handwritten orders with physician's entering the orders directly into a computer that asked for confirmation if any orders were outside routine guidelines. We have the technology to make a huge difference in children's health. It's time we use it!

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