GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.
Thomson Healthcare, part of the Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC), the leading provider of healthcare decision support solutions to improve clinical and business performance outcomes, today announced it has signed a partnership agreement with leading e-prescribing software vendor DrFirst, Inc. The agreement calls for incorporating medication-related information and functionality from DrFirst’s award winning Rcopia electronic prescription management solution into Thomson Healthcare’s
Medication Reconciliation solution.
“With the technology from DrFirst, our Web-based Medication Reconciliation solution enables
hospitals to create, maintain and reconcile an accurate list of patient’s medications from admittance to discharge,” said Jay Katzen, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Thomson Healthcare. “Clinicians using the solution can pull information from the pharmacy and the insurance provider to bridge the gap between what medications a family member or patient thinks they are taking with actual prescription records.”
This accurate management of medication reconciliation⎯which includes clinical decision support functions such as drug-to-drug and drug-to-allergy interaction checking⎯can have a significant impact on reducing medication-related errors and adverse drug events (ADEs). Medication reconciliation also is a specific requirement and a patient safety goal under Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) guidelines. Studies show inconsistent medication knowledge and record-keeping threaten patient safety, causing up to 50 percent of all medication-related errors in hospitals and up to 20 percent of ADEs.
“Reconciling medications across all care settings is a primary challenge for providers. Our eprescribing
expertise together with Thomson Healthcare offers providers and patients an understanding of the status of a medication at any given time and the reasons supporting any changes at each step of the medication reconciliation process,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president at DrFirst. “Furthermore, the Medication Reconciliation solution’s generation of up-to date lists of prescribed and dispensed medications at admission, transfer and discharge points in the care process along with decision support reference information will help improve physician compliance with clinical guidelines and best practices.”
According to the agreement, Thomson Healthcare will incorporate DrFirst’s Rcopia e-prescribing management solution to provide hospital physicians, nurses and staff to collect the patient’s Home Medication List from both inpatient and outpatient settings, including medications purchased at their local pharmacy or as part of an insurance plan. Rcopia provides clinicians a more complete picture of the patient’s past and present medication history, rather than clinicians having to rely on the patient to remember drug names, strengths, and how they are taking those drugs.
Other Rcipia benefits include its ability to save hospitals significant time during the collection and maintenance of accurate medication lists, and ensure a patient’s written discharge medications are formulary compliant to accommodate health insurance payment plans. Moreover, the Medication Reconciliation solution does not stop at discharge. Once the patient is released from the hospital, the solution transmits prescriptions via Rcopia to the patient’s pharmacist and notifies the patient’s primary care physician of the prescribed drugs. This benefits both acute care and ambulatory providers by promoting collaborative communications focused on continuity of care.
About DrFirst
DrFirst is a national provider of physician connectivity services through its award-winning Rcopia electronic prescription management system. Founded in 2000, DrFirst creates innovative services targeted to physicians in both ambulatory and acute care environments. With a strong emphasis on products that link physicians, patients, pharmacies, and payers, DrFirst works to lower healthcare costs while improving clinical outcomes. DrFirst also provides leading edge secure text messaging platforms.
About Thomson Healthcare
Thomson Healthcare is the leading provider of integrated decision support solutions that help healthcare organizations improve clinical and business performance. Through the ability of its solutions and products to combine real-time access to patient-specific information and care
recommendations with powerful benchmarking and analytics Thomson Healthcare helps its customers drive actionable results that improve profitability, growth, quality of care and patient satisfaction. Thomson Healthcare is part of The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), a global leader in providing essential electronic workflow solutions to business and professional customers. With operational headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Thomson provides value-added information, software tools and applications to professionals in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, scientific research and healthcare. The Corporation’s common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC).