DrFirst

A Healthcare Executive’s Guide to AI Success

Enhancing Medication Management at Emory Healthcare

If you’re taking a wait-and-see approach to AI, your clinicians and patients are missing out on the benefits that come from automating healthcare workflows. For many health systems, the integration of AI is proving to be a game-changer, particularly in medication management.

Now you can follow one healthcare leader’s path to AI success. In a recent interview with Healthcare IT News, Alistair Erskine, M.D., Chief Information and Digital Officer at Emory Healthcare, sheds light on how clinical-grade AI is enhancing medication history records and improving efficiency at the 11-hospital system based in Atlanta.

Get on Track With Accurate Medication Records

Despite improvements in interoperability, the accessibility of comprehensive and accurate medication records remains a challenge.

“Sharing high-quality data across our health system is more than a matter of efficiency: It’s also vital to our Epic EHR’s ability to trigger critical safety checks, such as drug interactions and allergy alerts that can help reduce adverse drug events,” said Dr. Erskine. “Access to medication information that was documented during any encounter with our health system empowers clinicians to make evidence-based decisions and provide the best possible patient care.”

Clinical-Grade AI Automates Medication Workflows

To address the challenges posed by unstructured and incomplete prescription data, Emory Healthcare turned to Fuzion by DrFirst, a software platform that provides richer information than the standard medication history feed and uses clinical-grade AI to reduce the need for manual data entry in Epic EHR workflows.

Emory Healthcare is using the clinical-grade AI engine to convert medication data automatically into appropriate fields in their Epic EHR, ensuring clinicians have more complete and standardized information at the point of care. This process significantly reduces the burden on clinicians, minimizing manual data entry and saving time on crucial processes like medication reconciliation.

“Actual metrics vary across hospital sites, but initial results show our focus on best-possible medication history with the new system has resulted in a 13% improvement in home medications being directly imported into our Epic EHR within 24 hours of admission, saving staff time and reducing the potential for keyboard errors. The AI is enhancing medication history data for 81% of all available home medications so our patient records contain fewer gaps,” Dr. Erskine said. “We also are gathering medication history data for 92% of our patient population age 65 and older, which supports our medication reconciliation initiatives regarding high-risk patients.”

For healthcare executives looking for a clear route to integrating AI into their clinical workflows, consider initiatives that reduce manual processes, decrease administrative burdens, and enhance patient care. Read “AI Improves Medication Management and Aids Caregivers at Emory Healthcare,” to learn more about how Emory Healthcare is using AI to pave the way to efficiency and improve patient safety. Then contact us to see how it can benefit your clinicians and patients.