Lindsey Karberg
03-09-2009, 07:08 PM
St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center Relies on RelayHealth Solution
to Improve Patient Safety
Solution aids medication reconciliation by collecting at-home medication history
ATLANTA, March 09, 2009—RelayHealth, the leading provider of healthcare connectivity services, announced today that St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in Syracuse, N.Y., has successfully deployed its IntegrateRx™-Prescription History. As part of the hospital’s patient safety initiative, IntegrateRx-Prescription History aids medication reconciliation by providing information on patients’ medications extracted from retail pharmacy prescription records. The solution is a key component in helping St. Joseph’s comply with the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goal requirement to accurately and completely reconcile medication lists across the continuum of care.
“Other solutions we’ve evaluated were tailored to the medication reconciliation process, but did not solve the task of gathering a patient’s medication history,” said Gary Gonza, R.Ph., clinical pharmacist in charge of Medication Reconciliation, St. Joseph’s. “The RelayHealth solution is not only easy to set up and administer, it also seamlessly supplements our existing system by extracting retail prescription data and adding it to the patient’s profile. We now can compare medications the patient takes at home with prescriptions filled at community pharmacies, giving us a complete history to drive patient safety, quality of care and better outcomes.”
The 431-bed comprehensive medical care institution, which serves residents of 16 counties in Central New York, recognized that medications and allergy information obtained from patients at admission or in the emergency department (ED) were subject to error. Many of the data discrepancies were associated with important details such as dose, frequency and the reason the patient was originally prescribed the medication─all leading to risk of potential errors.
Since implementing RelayHealth’s IntegrateRx-Prescription History in November 2008, St. Joseph’s clinicians have identified medications that patients may not have thought were applicable to their current condition or did not remember they were taking when initially interviewed. Clinicians also can use the newly collected data to review the patients’ prescribing history and medication use, and evaluate if additional information is required for diagnosis, treatment or a change in medication therapy by the prescriber.
Gonza recalled one recent incident in the ED where pharmacists used the solution to identify discrepancies in a patient's self-reported medication history by comparing it to the actual pharmacy dispensing record. A patient had indicated a high daily dose of levothyroxine (a thyroid replacement hormone). Upon researching the patient’s actual dispensing history, the total daily dose was actually 10 times lower than reported, enabling clinicians to avert potential risk for harm if treatment had been based on the higher dosage.
“We now have a more comprehensive view of the patient’s medication history to help identify high-risk medications, potential drug interactions or inaccurate dosages,” Gonza said. “Our clinicians can also view trends in compliance, which assists physicians in identifying drugs that have not been taken for several months, have been discontinued or have been changed to an alternative medication.”
Designed to enable HIPAA-compliant, nationwide patient safety collaboration between clinicians and pharmacies, IntegrateRx-Prescription History is interoperable with a hospital’s clinical system or electronic health record. It can also operate as a standalone service. IntegrateRx-Prescription History is made possible through participation from leading national retail chains and community pharmacies, and through the power of RelayHealth’s claims processing network, which processes more than 70 percent of all prescription claims of the nation’s pharmacies.
“We’re excited to partner with St. Joseph’s to enhance patient safety,” said Scott Genone, vice president of eHealth Solutions, RelayHealth. “The data supplied by local pharmacies provides a richer view into a patient's medication history than relying on just the patient’s recollection or third-party claims data. The end result is a dramatic improvement in efficiency and patient safety through reduced errors.”
About St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center
St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center (www.sjhsyr.org) is a non-profit, 431-bed hospital and health care network providing services to patients from Onondaga and 15 surrounding counties. Through prevention programs and the latest diagnostic treatment procedures, St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center works with patients to achieve optimum long-term health. An eight-time winner of the National Research Corporation Consumer Choice award, St. Joseph’s is designated a Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the highest honor bestowed on a hospital for nursing care. St. Joseph’s is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis. For more information on St. Joseph’s programs and services, call the Resource Line at 315-703-2138 or 1-888-STJOES1.
About RelayHealth
RelayHealth, McKesson’s connectivity business, operates as a neutral partner in an open network environment, offering connectivity services and integration among all organizations, systems, and solutions. Its intelligent network is designed to streamline clinical, financial and administrative communication between patients, providers, payors, pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and financial institutions. RelayHealth works to accelerate the delivery of high-quality care and improve financial performance through solutions such as online consultation of physicians by patients, electronic prescribing, point-of-service pharmacy claims resolution by payors, pre-visit patient financial clearance by providers, and post-visit provider bill settlement by payors and patients. RelayHealth securely processes more than 12 billion financial and clinical transactions annually. For more information, call (800) 778-6711, or visit our Web site at www.RelayHealth.com
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to Improve Patient Safety
Solution aids medication reconciliation by collecting at-home medication history
ATLANTA, March 09, 2009—RelayHealth, the leading provider of healthcare connectivity services, announced today that St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in Syracuse, N.Y., has successfully deployed its IntegrateRx™-Prescription History. As part of the hospital’s patient safety initiative, IntegrateRx-Prescription History aids medication reconciliation by providing information on patients’ medications extracted from retail pharmacy prescription records. The solution is a key component in helping St. Joseph’s comply with the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goal requirement to accurately and completely reconcile medication lists across the continuum of care.
“Other solutions we’ve evaluated were tailored to the medication reconciliation process, but did not solve the task of gathering a patient’s medication history,” said Gary Gonza, R.Ph., clinical pharmacist in charge of Medication Reconciliation, St. Joseph’s. “The RelayHealth solution is not only easy to set up and administer, it also seamlessly supplements our existing system by extracting retail prescription data and adding it to the patient’s profile. We now can compare medications the patient takes at home with prescriptions filled at community pharmacies, giving us a complete history to drive patient safety, quality of care and better outcomes.”
The 431-bed comprehensive medical care institution, which serves residents of 16 counties in Central New York, recognized that medications and allergy information obtained from patients at admission or in the emergency department (ED) were subject to error. Many of the data discrepancies were associated with important details such as dose, frequency and the reason the patient was originally prescribed the medication─all leading to risk of potential errors.
Since implementing RelayHealth’s IntegrateRx-Prescription History in November 2008, St. Joseph’s clinicians have identified medications that patients may not have thought were applicable to their current condition or did not remember they were taking when initially interviewed. Clinicians also can use the newly collected data to review the patients’ prescribing history and medication use, and evaluate if additional information is required for diagnosis, treatment or a change in medication therapy by the prescriber.
Gonza recalled one recent incident in the ED where pharmacists used the solution to identify discrepancies in a patient's self-reported medication history by comparing it to the actual pharmacy dispensing record. A patient had indicated a high daily dose of levothyroxine (a thyroid replacement hormone). Upon researching the patient’s actual dispensing history, the total daily dose was actually 10 times lower than reported, enabling clinicians to avert potential risk for harm if treatment had been based on the higher dosage.
“We now have a more comprehensive view of the patient’s medication history to help identify high-risk medications, potential drug interactions or inaccurate dosages,” Gonza said. “Our clinicians can also view trends in compliance, which assists physicians in identifying drugs that have not been taken for several months, have been discontinued or have been changed to an alternative medication.”
Designed to enable HIPAA-compliant, nationwide patient safety collaboration between clinicians and pharmacies, IntegrateRx-Prescription History is interoperable with a hospital’s clinical system or electronic health record. It can also operate as a standalone service. IntegrateRx-Prescription History is made possible through participation from leading national retail chains and community pharmacies, and through the power of RelayHealth’s claims processing network, which processes more than 70 percent of all prescription claims of the nation’s pharmacies.
“We’re excited to partner with St. Joseph’s to enhance patient safety,” said Scott Genone, vice president of eHealth Solutions, RelayHealth. “The data supplied by local pharmacies provides a richer view into a patient's medication history than relying on just the patient’s recollection or third-party claims data. The end result is a dramatic improvement in efficiency and patient safety through reduced errors.”
About St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center
St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center (www.sjhsyr.org) is a non-profit, 431-bed hospital and health care network providing services to patients from Onondaga and 15 surrounding counties. Through prevention programs and the latest diagnostic treatment procedures, St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center works with patients to achieve optimum long-term health. An eight-time winner of the National Research Corporation Consumer Choice award, St. Joseph’s is designated a Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the highest honor bestowed on a hospital for nursing care. St. Joseph’s is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis. For more information on St. Joseph’s programs and services, call the Resource Line at 315-703-2138 or 1-888-STJOES1.
About RelayHealth
RelayHealth, McKesson’s connectivity business, operates as a neutral partner in an open network environment, offering connectivity services and integration among all organizations, systems, and solutions. Its intelligent network is designed to streamline clinical, financial and administrative communication between patients, providers, payors, pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and financial institutions. RelayHealth works to accelerate the delivery of high-quality care and improve financial performance through solutions such as online consultation of physicians by patients, electronic prescribing, point-of-service pharmacy claims resolution by payors, pre-visit patient financial clearance by providers, and post-visit provider bill settlement by payors and patients. RelayHealth securely processes more than 12 billion financial and clinical transactions annually. For more information, call (800) 778-6711, or visit our Web site at www.RelayHealth.com
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