Case Study: North York General Hospital reduces medication errors and accelerates STAT medication delivery with Cerner's closed-loop medication administration

North York General Hospital reduces medication errors with closed-loop administration

North York General Hospital, a three-facility academic medical centre in Toronto with more than 5,000 staff, set out to redesign its medication administration process to put patient safety first and reduce medication-related adverse events. Facing evidence that a large share of hospital adverse events are medication-related, the organization launched a multi-year clinical transformation to eliminate manual transcription and lower the risk of errors.

NYGH implemented a closed-loop medication administration (CLMA) system using Cerner’s EHR and barcode scanning at the bedside, rolled out in phases with targeted training and monthly compliance reports. From 2010–2015 scanning compliance rose from 73% to over 95%; the hospital detected and avoided more than 11,000 potential medication errors, cut STAT medication turnaround time by 83% (delivering meds more than four hours faster), and estimates over $5.7 million in avoided adverse drug event costs over five years.

North York General Hospital

Jeremy Theal

Chief Medical Information Officer, Staff Gastroenterologist