The patient can be the best—and worst—source of information. Prescribers rely on patients to tell them what medications they’re taking, but that’s not always enough for accuracy. Health systems know this problem all too well. Fortunately, the days of depending on unreliable data sources are over.
Knowing the patient has high blood pressure is one thing. Knowing the patient takes four medications to treat that high blood pressure—and what those medications are—is something else altogether.
In fact, it’s something more, which is what health systems want.
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Surescripts Medication History for Health Systems 2022
Enhancing Medication Reconciliation by Closing Gaps in Medication History
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KLAS Research surveyed 20 health systems that range from large to small, including academic centers and standalone hospitals. These health systems reported—unanimously—that our Medication History for Reconciliation solution (1) supports their integration goals; (2) has the functionality they need; and (3) is highly recommended.
“Our Surescripts representative did a fantastic job communicating and helping support us.”
Health System Vice President
When it comes to health IT, new technology must be integrated into existing systems and workflows, and even after the build is complete, issues will inevitably arise that require troubleshooting—and dedicated customer support.
After all, technology works best when people are there to support it, even after it’s been integrated.
“Once the build went live,” said one health system’s vice president, “we continued to have troubleshooting meetings with an issues log. The [Surescripts] representative attended those meetings and tried to help us work through issues—even if the issues weren’t fully Surescripts related.”
“The information is instantaneous.”
Health System Analyst
In a 2019 survey of healthcare leaders, interoperability gaps were the most cited barrier to value-based care, second only to a lack of resources. These gaps cause failures in care coordination, which is estimated to cost U.S. healthcare around $78.2 billion a year.
Does the patient know the right doses for their medications? Or even what medications they’re taking? And what about the time it takes for a provider to figure it out?
But a lack of data isn’t the problem. Health systems are swamped in it. The challenge is to give clinicians relevant information at the point of care, without cramping their workflow, and without making them resort to the patient’s memory, all while ensuring that the technological solution functions as promised.
As an analyst said, “Medication History is reliable. The information is instantaneous. We haven’t had many issues with connectivity. The product integrates with our EMR nicely, and the workflow to reconcile the data is simple.”
Dean Riggott Photography
Surescripts
