Kunal Agarwal

Game-Changing Pharmacy Solution Recognized as Edison Awards Finalist

In honor of the 175^th anniversary of Thomas Edison’s birthday, the Edison Awards™ is recognizing excellence in new product development and innovation. Edison’s extraordinary contributions led to the invention of the incandescent electric light, the phonograph and recorded sound, the telephone transmitter, the storage battery, and the motion-picture camera. His work earned 1,093 U.S. patents and made him a household name worldwide.

Since 1987, the Edison Awards™ have honored some of the most innovative new products, services, and business leaders in the world. Last year’s winners included Dow, IBM, Google Maps, Merck & Co., and many other trailblazing companies. This year, DrFirst’s SmartSuite^SM for Pharmacy is recognized as a finalist in the Commercial Technology, Consumer Safety category.

Innovation That Keeps Patients Safe

This recognition is not only an honor for DrFirst but also an acknowledgement of the danger to patients due to avoidable medication errors and the need to provide more accurate, efficient solutions that help hard-working pharmacists avoid burnout.

SmartSuite for Pharmacy is the latest addition to the SmartSuite AI platform, which currently processes 105 million transactions per week. By cleaning, inferring, and accurately translating medication data between incompatible systems, SmartSuite for Pharmacy saves time for pharmacy staff and can help reduce adverse drug events—the cause of more than 100,000 deaths per year. The AI-powered solution cross-links an electronic prescription from a provider’s electronic health record (EHR) system to an actual product on the shelf at the receiving pharmacy. It also translates abbreviated medication directions from the electronic prescription into the specific “short codes” used by the receiving pharmacy.

Now, SmartSuite for Pharmacy also codifies allergy data for safety checks within the pharmacy workflow. SmartAllergy was added to the solution recently based on feedback from pharmacists to help them more efficiently prepare prescriptions for new patients by making allergy data available prior to dispensing a medication. If an interaction is detected, the pharmacist can contact the prescriber proactively before a patient gets to the pharmacy.

Freeing Up Pharmacy Staff

For the first time, pharmacies can use AI to improve workflow challenges that lead to errors, take time away from patients, and slow productivity. In September 2020, DrFirst announced a partnership with Speed Script, a Kansas-based pharmacy management system and services provider, to integrate SmartSuite into their system used by pharmacies throughout the United States.

As of February 14, DrFirst has expanded use of the solution to 57 pharmacies, with results showing pharmacists’ overall data entry time decreased by more than 14% when using SmartSuite for Pharmacy versus not. The AI eases workflow and accelerates prescription turnaround times, plus it frees up pharmacy staff for patient consultations and other clinical work with higher patient impact.

Practical AI With Real-World Impact

The DrFirst team is looking forward to the 2022 Edison Awards gala at the end of April in Fort Myers, Florida, where we’re pleased to be included among a prestigious group of the world’s top innovation leaders and new products from around the globe. Even more gratifying, however, is providing the latest technological innovations to pharmacists so they can deliver high-quality services with fewer clicks and keystrokes, focus more time on patient interactions, and keep the people in their communities safe from medication errors.