Children's Heart Center
at the Forefront of National
Electronic Prescribing Safety Initiative

Newark, NJ -- Cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center are at the forefront of an important national patient safety initiative to reduce prescription drug errors though electronic prescribing. The National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI) is a joint project among healthcare and computer technology companies dedicated to resolving the current crisis in preventable medication errors. 

According to Joel T. Hardin, MD, Director of Cardiology at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, electronic prescribing (eRx) eliminates some critical shortcomings of the paper-based prescribing process that most physicians still rely upon. 

Using a secure web-based software application, Dr. Hardin and his colleagues generate and transmit medication prescriptions electronically, directly to area pharmacies.  NEPSI provides built-in checks on potentially dangerous medication interactions, allergies, dosing errors, therapeutic duplication, and pregnancy-related issues. Pharmacists receive the eRxs instantly and with no confusion about hard-to-read handwritten prescriptions. This system also ensures a measure of control over fraudulent or illegal prescription activity by third parties. The eRx system enrollment procedures are rigorous and ensure that only verified licensed medical professionals have access to the eRx process.

“The national effort to reduce medication errors simply is the right thing to do, and where better to begin than with the safety of some of our most vulnerable patients –children,” says Dr. Hardin.  The software and web-access portals are free and easy to use. Physician office practices can transition from their paper-based system of prescribing to the safer eRx system in just a matter of days.  Refill requests that formerly occupied a substantial measure of time and effort in the doctor’s office are now routed electronically for authorization or modification with just the click of a mouse. 

“Best of all, parents benefit from the knowledge that their child’s heart medications have been prescribed with the best set of safeguards available anywhere today,” concludes Dr. Hardin. 

The Children’s Heart Center consist of nationally and internationally respected pediatric cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, as well as experienced cardiac intensivists, cardiothoracic anesthesiologists, clinical nurse specialists, social workers and child life specialists. The entire team is based at the Children’s Heart Center and is available 24 hours a day. The coordinated pediatric transport service brings children from across the state to Children’s Hospital for the most sophisticated care.

Over the last decade, the Children’s Heart Center has performed more pediatric cardiac surgery and interventional cardiac catheterization procedures – often involving extremely complex malformations - than any other hospital in New Jersey. The interventional cardiology team has more than 20 years experience in New Jersey’s largest single center for catheter-based treatment of complex congenital heart disease – in children and adults.  In its dedicated Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, cardiologists have succeeded in treating an increasingly complex patient mix with zero mortality over the last six years.  The Center’s electrophysiology capabilities include cryoablation procedures, currently available only at the nation’s most progressive pediatric cardiac centers.  The cardiologists of the Children’s Heart Center are expert in applying the entire spectrum of state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities including 3-D echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography, stress echocardiography, fetal echocardiography, and cardiac MRI.   With a balance of expertise, technology, and a passion for excellence, the team at the Children’s Heart Center is second to none, and right at home in New Jersey.

December 5, 2007

Contact: Caren Malone
Public Relations Department
973-322-4017 or cmalone@sbhcs.com

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