The Computer That Cried “Wolf” — Useless Opioid Alerts Far Outnumber Useful Ones

Alert fatigue is a well-described consequence of healthcare information technology systems. Investigators retrospectively analyzed opioid-related alerts and adverse events for a convenience sample of 4581 visits to a single academic emergency department in Denver that uses the Epic electronic health record platform.

Of all opioid-related alerts, 96% were overridden (ignored), with no missed adverse events. Providers responded to 4692 opioid-related alerts, and 38 of these responses may have averted an adverse event (123 alerts for each 1 averted event).