CPOE is an electronic process that allows healthcare providers to enter orders electronically and manage the results of those orders. Denver Health was in need of an integrated systems approach to clinical and nonclinical patient care. Features unique to the INVISION system include comprehensive integration to other systems, with bidirectional interfaces to radiology, laboratory, and pharmacy systems. As Denver Health integrates acute hospital and emergency care with public and community healthcare, INVISION was an attractive choice. With extensive customization capabilities and Web-based access, the hospital was able to tailor the system to their needs and benefit from a higher availability of information.

The study provided convincing results – turnaround times for orders placed to all three ancillary departments decreased significantly. The laboratory department saw a 55.6-percent improvement after the CPOE implementation, radiology 61.6 percent, and pharmacy benefited from an 83.4-percent improvement. Increased efficiency is a commonly noted benefit of CPOE implementations, and with enhanced time efficiency in particular, clinicians can communicate more effectively, provide more accurate care, and are able to allocate more of their time for patients.