One of the problems in health systems has been issues with inefficient medication reconciliation processes and the lack of price transparency, which often leads to patients abandoning prescriptions at the pharmacy counter after being surprised by the costs. Health technology company DrFirst recently announced that the 900-bed Temple University Health System (Temple Health) is answering these challenges by integrating AI-powered medication history and real-time prescription benefit checking solutions into its Epic electronic health record (EHR) system.
DrFirst’s MedHx with SmartSuite utilizes clinical-grade AI to automatically fill gaps in patient medication history records, relieving a burden for clinicians and creating a more accurate medication reconciliation process—one of The Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goals. And the myBenefitCheck solution gives Temple Health’s providers improved insight into prescription costs during a doctor’s visit or at hospital discharge based on patients’ health insurance. This data helps clinicians choose medications patients can afford and increases the likelihood they will adhere to their drug therapies.
Gaps in medication history often delay optimal treatment, put patients at risk of adverse drug events, and contribute to higher readmission rates. But having access to patient- and payer-specific prescription drug information during healthcare visits gives clinicians visibility into out-of-pocket costs and more affordable therapeutic alternatives so they can prescribe medications that are more likely to be picked up at the pharmacy.
Temple Health will utilize DrFirst’s advanced data analytics to monitor adherence to medication history best practices and suggest ways to further improve patient safety and staff efficiency.
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“Complete and accurate medication history, along with real-time prescription benefit information, is critical to our ability to provide the best possible care to our patients. Leveraging AI and automated tasks, such as delivering patient data within our EHR workflows, relieve some of the burdens on our clinicians to support informed clinical decision-making at the point of care.”
— David Fleece, MD, chief medical information officer at Temple University Health System
“Our clinical-grade AI will help Temple Health providers reduce the time they spend manually entering data for medication reconciliation. At a time when many health systems are short-staffed, they need new ways to increase efficiency, reduce staff burnout, and prevent the adverse drug events that could lead to readmissions.”
— G. Cameron Deemer, CEO of DrFirst
