I've complained here before about computerized order entry.  I'm back.
I think I've finally realized what's wrong with it.

About a year ago our large teaching hospital converted from a paper and
pencil approach to a computer based approach.  We see frequent errors in
the orders from this system.  I believe it is because formerly the users
would simply write their orders, and we, the pharmacy folk, would create
the computer entries.  I thought the new paperless system would have
fewer errors; I was wrong.

For adults, writing is so "automatic" that the doctors' concentration
was almost entirely on the orders they would write.  Now they have to
split their concentration between the order they are writing, and a
computer systems they must simultaneously manipulate.  Consequently we
find frequent, generally trivial errors.  This causes more work for me:
I must track down the person who made the mistake to correct non-trivial
errors.  We don't bother correcting the trivial errors, although I know
our patients sometimes are inconvenienced.

What do I consider a trivial error?  Two examples:

-When we receive 6 rx for a patient for maintenance meds, and 5 are i qd
#30, and one rx is written ii qd #30.  We can usually read between the
lines that it was an error.  We seldom correct these.

-The system seems to make it difficult to change orders when they
transition from  ip orders to op orders.  For example, ip we are
encouraged to fill Lisinopril 20mg qd as Lisinopril 10mg ii qd, IF only
10mg is stocked in the pyxis.  When they write the discharge, the system
seems to prefer to keep the format as 10mg ii qd which is a less
parsimonious prescription.  We seldom correct these.

We see this all day long. We don't have the time to page physicians for
all these issues, they don't have the time to answer all the pages we
would make, our bosses don't have the time to pressure the software
vendor (epic) to improve the system, and the vendor already has pocketed
the cash and doesn't care.

C'est la vie.