Computer-based physician order entry: implementation of clinical pathways.

Computer-based physician order entry (CPOE) is a key feature of electronic health record systems. A fully-featured CPOE system, capable of dealing with drug prescription, but also with all the other aspects of patients care, can be used to implement standardized clinical pathways. This classic design can be improved upon by using a workflow engine to drive and bring together the different tasks incorporated in a pathway, including clinical documentation.