Overview

Get a complete, accurate patient medication list

Missing medication information can be dangerous. Medication History for Ambulatory gives providers an unparalleled depth of data: 12 months of detailed, accurate medication history from pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacies delivered directly into the ambulatory care workflow. Quickly review and reconcile medication history to create a fully informed treatment plan and reduce the likelihood of adverse drug events. 

2.97 billion

medication histories delivered in 20231

90%

of surveyed health systems saw immediate benefits to implementing Medication History solutions2

28%

average enrichment of patient medication histories by adding previously unrecorded drugs3

A closer look

What can Medication History for Ambulatory do for you?

Choose your organization type to see how Medication History for Ambulatory can help inform e-prescribing and assess adherence.

  • EHR vendors
  • Health systems

Complete medication history data at the point of care

Missing or confusing medication history data can disrupt prescriber workflows at the point of care. Support providers and gain a competitive edge by making the medication review process simpler and more convenient. 

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Streamline prescriber workflows

Increase workflow efficiency to help providers get more done in less time.

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Reduce errors

Save physicians from relying on patients to report their own medication histories from memory. 

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Fill information gaps automatically

Avoid the need for care teams to spend time contacting pharmacies and other providers to track down missing information.

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Bring your customers premium features

Add the Medication History for Ambulatory Premium Suite to deduplicate records and augment data, including Sigs. 

How it works for EHR vendors

About to write an e-prescription, a prescriber checks the patient’s past medications.

Care teams can access Medication History for Ambulatory from within your E-Prescribing workflow.

Surescripts returns 12 months of in-depth, standards-based medication history data.

Data from pharmacies and PBMs provides insight into details including prescriber information, pickup date and Sig.

The care team gets a clear, complete picture of all medications prescribed and picked up.

Providers get all the medication history insights they need without leaving the chart or medication review workflow.

The optional Premium Suite helps care teams move even faster.

Sig IQ clarifies free-text Sigs, augmentation fills in missing data elements and deduplication streamlines review.

Bring more comprehensive medication history information to the point of care

Make the medication review process simpler and more convenient. Help spot safety or adherence issues before prescribing with accurate medication data in your EHR, including cash-pay prescriptions. 

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View comprehensive medication data

Give providers a more complete understanding of their patients’ medication histories.

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Simplify patient record review

Make reviewing medication history easier for clinical staff by consolidating duplicate entries from claims and fill data.

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Bring records up to date

Fill in important gaps in a patient’s medication history to create a more accurate and complete history record.

How it works for health systems

About to write an e-prescription, a prescriber checks the patient’s past medications.

Care teams can access Medication History for Ambulatory from within the E-Prescribing workflow.

Surescripts returns 12 months of in-depth, standards-based medication history data.

Data from pharmacies and PBMs provides insight into details including prescriber information, pickup date and Sig.

Care teams get a clear, complete picture of all medications prescribed and picked up.

Providers get all the medication history insights they need without leaving the chart or medication review workflow.

The optional Premium Suite helps your staff move even faster.

Sig IQ clarifies free-text Sigs, augmentation fills in missing data elements and deduplication streamlines review.

Features In Focus

Get more value with Medication History for Ambulatory Premium Suite

Tap into intelligently organized and augmented data. Get an accurate view of patients’ medications with no need to sort through duplicate entries, search for missing information or interpret unclear Sigs.

Sig IQ

Sig IQ translates free-text patient instructions into a standardized format with the highest-quality, most accurate response in accordance with National Council for Prescription Drug Programs standards and a pharmacist review process. 

Augmentation

Premium Suite plugs holes in medication history data with our directories and third-party sources—including pharmacy and prescriber demographics—as well as medication fields such as RxNorm.

Deduplication

With the Premium Suite deduplicating claim and fill records, users see just one instance of each medication within the patient’s medication history list.

FAQs

Find out more about Medication History for Ambulatory

What makes Surescripts Medication History unique?

Unlike traditional health information exchange or EHR medication lists, Surescripts Medication History provides an accurate list of medications that have been purchased by the patient. Surescripts’ unique approach supplies medication information from pharmacy fill data as well as pharmacy benefit plan claims.

What steps are needed to get this functionality connected to my technology solutions?

If you represent a provider organization, please reach out to your EHR vendor to see if they offer Surescripts Medication History for Ambulatory. 

If your organization uses Epic software, or if you represent a technology vendor yourself, please contact us directly using the “Get in touch” button below.

Once a medication is prescribed, how soon will it show up in Surescripts Medication History?

Once a medication is confirmed to have been purchased by the patient from a connected pharmacy or through a pharmacy benefit plan, it will appear on the medication history list within about 24 hours. This means that a medication picked up at the pharmacy yesterday morning should appear on the medication list today.

Does Medication History include prescriptions purchased with cash, or only those covered by the pharmacy benefit?

No matter how a prescription is purchased, connected pharmacies will provide the medication fill data to Surescripts. That means users get a comprehensive view of all prescriptions, whether they were paid for via benefits, cash, coupons or any other method.

If I already use Medication History for Ambulatory, where can I go to get answers to my questions?

If you are a provider, please report all issues directly to your EHR vendor so that they can research the issue on your behalf and open a support ticket with Surescripts if necessary.

If you are a technology vendor, visit our support page to get assistance.

Insights

Keep pace with healthcare innovation

Footnotes
  1. Surescripts, “2023 National Progress Report,” March 2024.
  2. Tyson Blauer et al., “KLAS Performance Insights First Look: Surescripts Medication History for Health Systems 2022,” October 2022.
  3. Kin Wah Fung et al., "Comparison of Electronic Pharmacy Prescription Records with Manually Collected Medication Histories in an Emergency Department," Annals of Emergency Medicine 62, no. 3 (May 20, 2013): 205-211.
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