Cook Children's Health Care System, based in Fort Worth, Texas, has won a national award for significantly reducing vaccine-related errors, according to a news release shared with Becker's.
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices will honor the health system, as well as Toronto-based Hospital for Sick Children, as the 27th annual Cheers Award recipients during a Dec. 10 ceremony.
Cook Children's quality-improvement team collaborated with its IT team to address immunization errors, particularly those involving complex vaccine age eligibility and vaccine series interval timing, ISMP said.
After creating a clinical decision-support tool and real-time alerts in the organization's EHR, Cook Children's averted more than 9,000 inappropriate vaccine orders. Error rates for the hepatitis A series also declined 91%.
"This year's ISMP Cheers Award winners are ahead of the curve in terms of finding innovative ways to use technology to prevent medication errors," ISMP President Rita Jew, PharmD, said in a statement. "These dedicated organizations and leaders set a high bar for the rest of the healthcare community to emulate."