DrFirst implemented at South Okanagan General

OLIVER, B.C. – South Okanagan General Hospital has deployed MedHx, DrFirst’s electronic patient medication history service, integrated within the hospital’s Meditech Enterprise Health Record (EHR).

MedHx allows physicians, nurses, and pharmacists to electronically retrieve patient medication histories from PharmaNet, British Columbia’s province-wide prescription network, and download the information directly into the hospital’s Meditech patient record system, creating more complete medication histories for enhanced patient safety and streamlined workflows.

South Okanagan is part of British Columbia’s Interior Health Authority, which has contracted with DrFirst to integrate MedHx with Meditech at 22 different hospitals.

DrFirst is based in Rockville, Md., and has a Canadian subsidiary called DrFirst Healthcare Innovations.

By integrating the PharmaNet drug information system and the Meditech EHR, MedHx delivers to clinicians the most comprehensive patient prescription and allergy histories available directly within the clinical workflow.

MedHx incorporates DrFirst’s SmartSuite functionality (SmartSig, SmartAllergy and SmartDx) to intelligently analyze and translate free-text prescription information to further improve the quality of the data and the workflow associated with the medication reconciliation process.

Drug data is validated and normalized using DrFirst technology, then sent to the Meditech EHR to automatically populate patient histories. With point-of-care access to vital drug dispensing details, physicians have more robust data available to them to drive well-informed prescribing decisions.

“The DrFirst and Meditech collaboration facilitates the delivery of safer, more timely care for patients,” said Hoda Sayed-Friel, executive vice president, Meditech. “Through this integration, clinicians have a more comprehensive summary of the patient’s medication information. The PharmaNet medication and allergy data is instantly available within existing clinical workflows, enabling physicians to more quickly and efficiently gather a holistic view of reconciled medication information.”

MedHx reduces the time needed to manually research a patient’s medication history by as much as 62 percent. As patients are admitted to the hospital, MedHx electronically retrieves patient medication histories from PharmaNet and feeds the data to Meditech. Since launching MedHx, South Okanagan clinicians query the medication profiles for 100 percent of patients entering the hospital, eliminating the need for time-consuming data entry and reconciliation, while simultaneously creating a more accurate medical record.

“By implementing the integrated MedHx and Meditech solution, Interior Health has demonstrated its commitment to reducing the risk of adverse drug events and improving quality care delivery,” said G. Cameron Deemer (pictured), president of DrFirst. “We look forward to working with the other hospitals in the province to replicate South Okanagan’s success and make vital medication histories easily accessible to clinicians. Both physicians and patients will benefit from more efficient workflows and more complete patient records.”

Through the end of the year, Interior Health will integrate MedHx with existing Meditech EHRs at Royal Inland Hospital, Vernon Jubilee Hospital, Kelowna General Hospital and Penticton Regional Hospital. The balance of the hospitals will be implemented thereafter.

About PharmaNet
PharmaNet is the province-wide network that links all British Columbia pharmacies to a central data system. Every prescription dispensed in community pharmacies in B.C. is entered into PharmaNet. PharmaNet, administered by the Ministry of Health, was developed in consultation with health professionals and the public to improve prescription safety and support prescription claim processing. PharmaNet users include community pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, emergency departments, hospitals, community health practices, the College of Pharmacists of B.C. and the College of Physicians & Surgeons of B.C. For more information, please visit www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/pharmacare-for-bc-residents/pharmanet.

About Interior Health Authority
Interior Health is the publicly funded healthcare provider in the Southern Interior area of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Interior Health was established as one of five geographically based health authorities in 2001 by the Government of British Columbia. It is responsible for ensuring publicly funded health services are provided to the 743,000 people of the Southern Interior, a large geographic area covering almost 215,000 square kilometres and includes larger cities such as Kelowna, Kamloops, Cranbrook, Penticton and Vernon, and a multitude of rural and remote communities. For more information, please visit www.interiorhealth.ca.

About Meditech
The next digital transformation of healthcare is underway, and Meditech is leading the charge with Expanse, the only full-scale EHR designed specifically for the post-Meaningful Use era. As a leading EHR vendor for over 45 years, Meditech’s solutions have empowered 2,350+ customers across 22 different countries to provide higher quality care, with greater efficiency, to more people, at a lower cost. Today, our cutting-edge solutions are helping organizations to see healthcare through a new lens and navigate this virtual landscape with unparalleled vision and clarity. Whether your destination is clinical efficiency, analytical prowess, or financial success, Meditech’s bold innovation, passion, and expertise will get you where you want to go. Visit ehr.Meditech.com, our Newsroom and Blog, and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to start your journey today.

About DrFirst
DrFirst Healthcare Innovations, Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of DrFirst, the nation’s leading provider of e-prescribing and medication management solutions, enables stakeholders across the healthcare industry to intelligently utilize comprehensive real-time data and connectivity to increase their patient safety ratings, efficiency and profitability. Today, more than 170,000 healthcare professionals and more than 60% of electronic health record vendors, depend on DrFirst’s innovative software solutions to improve clinical workflows, expedite secure collaboration across a patient’s care team and drive better health outcomes. The company’s integrated technologies include its award-winning electronic prescribing platform, the most comprehensive medication history available, clinically specialized secure messaging, as well as patient medication adherence monitoring and benefits checking. In addition, DrFirst was the first to offer e-prescribing for controlled substances (EPCS), which is considered the industry standard for providers nationwide. For more information, please visit www.drfirst.com or connect with us @DrFirst.