BOSTON -- The safety of patients at some local hospitals is being questioned by a new study.

The study, conducted non-profit groups New England Healthcare Institute and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, found one in 10 patients suffered serious and avoidable medication mistakes at six area community hospitals.

Researchers want all hospitals in Massachusetts to install computerized prescription ordering systems to prevent future problems.

"There would be a popup screen that would say to the doctor that you can't give penicillin to this patient," said Mitchell Adams of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

But the computerized system costs about $2 million to implement and about $400,000 to maintain.

"I think that over time, people will want to find out whether hospitals have computerized systems or not, and that it is going to be safer to be in a hospital with a computerized system," said study author Dr. David Bates of Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Currently, only 10 of the 73 hospitals in the state have adopted computerized systems.

"I think the numbers are frightening, and we should all be frightened to know that things can go wrong. But we ask ourselves what can we do to improve it?" asked Nancy Achin-Audesse of the Board Of Registration In Medicine.

The six hospitals surveyed in the study were not identified.