Looking for Treatment Feedback? Read the Rx Recs!

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For hungry restaurant-goers, we have Yelp. For vacation planners, there’s TripAdvisor. And now, for those seeking medication reviews, behold a new and enticing creation: RateRx. According to a recent article published in TechCrunch, on-demand digital health app HealthTap has gathered drug recommendations from over 500,000 medical doctors and is consolidating them into an innovative initiative for patients across the country. Have we piqued your interest yet? Read on.

Although HealthTap’s primary focus is offering on-demand treatment services, its California-based management team recently recognized the need to offer doctor-recommended drug reviews. In its first iteration, RateRx will be geared towards those “on-the-go”—patients can access firsthand, U.S. doctor-generated evaluations of medications and treatments from a free smartphone app. Commonly rated treatments for conditions such as acne, arthritis, anxiety, diabetes, headaches and hypertension are anticipated.

In terms of workflow, HealthTap has mapped out the following: RateRx will ask a doctor to rate the efficacy of a certain medication (doctors can only rate medications they have physically used to treat an illness/condition). Doctors are free to add any ancillary comments and all ratings are then polled into an overall “summary” score. Patients are able to see the results of these ratings, along with individual comments. Each provider using RateRx will have a profile complete with his/her credentials and areas of specialty that patients can also view at will.

Through the creation of RateRx, HealthTap hopes to provide consumers with reliable medication ratings, prevent medication mishaps and improve patient care by encouraging physicians to factor online ratings into future patient-oriented treatment strategies. A deeper look into RateRx can be found here on HealthTap’s website.

SOURCES: TechCrunch and HealthTechZone

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

XLDent Completes EPCS Certification with DoseSpot’s Dental e-Prescribing Platform

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Needham Heights, MA (PRWEB) February 19, 2015

DoseSpot, an industry leader in e-Prescribing integration platforms for medical, dental and telehealth software, today announced that Professional Economics Bureau of America’s XLDent has successfully integrated DoseSpot’s EPCS certified module for Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS). In addition, XLDent successfully completed an EPCS integration review by Drummond Group and XLDent’s dental customers are now equipped to e-Prescribe controlled substances in 49 states.

“Following DoseSpot’s successful completion of EPCS certification last year, we are thrilled to be working with our existing customer base to provide EPCS capabilities within our easy-to-use prescribing interface” said Greg Waldstreicher, CEO, DoseSpot. The certification comes in advance of the New York state mandate whereby all prescriptions must be sent electronically including controlled substances. The mandate goes into effect March 27, 2015 and will have a major impact on the dental industry as dental providers are most frequently prescribing a combination of antibiotics and controlled substances.

The DoseSpot Dental platform integrated with XLDent offers dentists the ability to route e-Prescriptions to the patient’s pharmacy of choice after automatically checking for any drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions. “With the NY mandate on the horizon and recent reclassification of hydrocodone combination medications, it’s critical for dental providers to adopt an e-Prescribing solution capable of sending all prescriptions electronically” added Greg. “XLDent continues to be at the forefront of dental e-Prescribing and we’re excited to see what the future has in store for e-Prescribing in dentistry.”

“XLDent partnered with DoseSpot in 2011 to offer integrated e-Prescribing services when it was mandated by the state of Minnesota and now we’re excited to be one of the first dental software solutions to integrate EPCS capabilities into our Dental Practice Management and Electronic Dental Record offering” said Dawn Christodoulou, President, Professional Economics Bureau of America, Inc. “It continues to be a pleasure to work with DoseSpot, a company that shares in our vision to bring valuable, patient-centered solutions to the table.”

For more information on DoseSpot’s EPCS software, please visit http://www.DoseSpot.com or contact Lindsay Walsh, Lindsay(at)dosespot(dot)com.

About XLDent 
The XLDent dental practice management system takes advantage of the latest in software development and design tools to provide its clients with the most intuitive, robust, easy-to-use dental program available. XLDent is an electronic dental records system that automates key business processes and ensures dental teams have the tools they need to manage the practice more profitably. Key benefits include a comprehensive suite of products written for a mobile, wireless, tablet PC environment. Other key benefits include seamlessly integrated e-Prescribing through DoseSpot, flexible Progress Note system, efficient clinical workflows, and dentist and Patient Portals. XLDent supports general and specialty dental clinics and is used by single practitioners as well as large multi-dentist, multi-location clinics nationwide.

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit http://www.DoseSpot.com.

Read the full press release here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/02/prweb12528541.htm

Retail and Refills: Patient Engagement Technologies on Horizon for Walmart and Target

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Recent digital health initiatives suggest that Walmart, Target and other retail giants are steadfastly marching into the healthcare setting with a focus on customer and employee health. With representatives attending Health 2.0’s WinterTech conference in San Francisco, both Walmart and Target have confirmed plans to provide more in-depth healthcare services including chronic disease management and guidance towards healthier lifestyles.

Last week, MedCity News connected with Walmart and Target spokespersons to learn more. Complete with clinics that serve both customers as well as employees, Target and Walmart will look to enhance healthcare efforts with technologies like mobile coaching apps and telemedicine platforms. For both Target and Walmart, much of this expansion will take place in the form of strategic partnerships with powerhouses like UnitedHealthcare and Kaiser Permanente. In developing its new pharmacy prescription app focused on medication adherence for employees and customers alike, Target partnered with Mscripts, a leader in mobile pharmacy solutions. Michael Laquere, a senior buyer for pharmacy at Target, pointed out that through this app Target hopes to “connect with pharmacies in a more virtual way.”

When taking information access into consideration, retailers could be sitting on a data gold mine. With customer buying patterns and health information at their disposal, retailers could potentially make suggestions to improve health or aid in chronic disease management. With the current privacy barriers and regulations in place, this possibility is far from a reality—however, the opportunity to improve consumer health is salient and two major retail players have taken the reigns. Who will be the next to join?

SOURCE: MedCityNews

To learn more about increasing retail presence in the healthcare industry, check out MedCity News’ full article here!

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

“Stuck in the 70’s:” Modern Medicine, the FDA and Medical Device Legislation

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Will Congressional bills slated for 2015 review finally bring medical device regulation into the 21st Century?

The year was 1976. Apple was founded, bell bottoms were in, Jimmy Carter was elected President and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began its first regulatory measures on medical devices.  The notion of “tech-savvy” Americans had not yet come to fruition, nor had the ubiquity of iPhones and tablets—in fact, no consumer would have known what to do with such a device during this era. Today, increasing numbers of hand-held devices allow us to connect with providers, manage and track medications and organization medical records. In 2013 alone, the Apple Store reported 97,000 mobile health apps in use and over 60% of physicians were using tablets. With these solid numbers marked in the medical sphere, why is the FDA still stuck in 1976?

In a recent article released by Forbes Magazine, John Graham illuminates the FDA’s continued regulation of novel, cutting-edge medical devices under outdated amendments and what this antiquated authority means for new health tools. According to the FDA’s original amendments, a medical device is an “instrument, apparatus, implement, machine…or related article, including any component, part or accessory…” Technologies of the 21^st century, namely smartphones, smartwatches and tablets, don’t seem to fit within this definition in any regard.

Despite the amendments’ verbose restrictions, the FDA has informed patients and providers alike on how it intends to regulate new technologies. With the final guidance for medical mobile apps passed in 2013, the FDA intends to focus its regulatory oversight on only a subset of mobile medical apps that present a risk to patients if they do not work as intended. In the final guidance, the FDA defined the term “mobile medical app” and Congress defined the technologies subject to FDA regulation.

While it appears the FDA is making strides in the right direction, many find its law-related verbiage unsettling. Early-stage startups remain weary over the FDA’s “enforcement discretion,” which includes the self-perceived ability to withhold smartphones, tablets and more. After much discussion at last week’s mHealth Summit in Washington, DC, the consensus is this: the FDA cannot be expected to generate consistent regulatory standards without appropriate legislation. Fortunately for the medical sphere, this may be resolved in the next Congress with the following propositions:

MEDTECH Act: would legislate that electronic health records (EHRs) and other technologies that only store and communicate information are exempt from FDA regulation.

SOFTWARE Act: would define the term “medical software” as software distributed directly to consumers and not integrated with a drug or device but includes the use of a drug or device. Such software would be subject to FDA regulation. The bill also includes the terms “clinical software” (used by medical professionals) and “health software” (used by consumers to store and communicate data but doesn’t include the use of a device). Both clinical and health software would not be subject to regulation.

SOURCE: Forbes Magazine

For more information on the FDA, legislation and the future of U.S. health innovation, click here!

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

New to the Accelerator Scene: Athenahealth

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Calling all Beantown startup followers: the Massachusetts healthtech scene is expanding! Watertown-based Athenahealth has announced that its new accelerator for health IT startups is now open for business. The “More Disruption Please” (MDP) Accelerator went into beta in June when it began working with a single startup, Smart Scheduling, but is now inviting health IT startups to apply for participation.

Based on a mission to “drive connectivity and innovation across the continuum of care,” MDP is the third phase of a 2010 effort to connect with and promote startups that seek to address areas of concern in the health care delivery system beyond the electronic health record (EHR).  The perks of joining MDP, one might ask? Athenahealth will provide venture capital to companies through the accelerator. Aside from funding, portfolio companies get free office space at Athenahealth’s super chic Watertown headquarters and ongoing mentorship from Athenahealth experts.

Athenahealth says the accelerator will accept applicants on a rolling basis, with an anticipated residency period of roughly 8 to 12 months. More information about MDP can be found on Athenahealth’s “More Disruption Please” page.

SOURCES: VentureBeat and Athenahealth

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescriptsâ„¢ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

Pain, Pain Go Away: What Would Dr. House Say?

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With the ability to e-Prescribe controlled substances soon to be a widespread reality in the U.S., pain medication management is currently a discussion “hot topic” among many clinicians. Hospital staff members at University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro (UMCPP)—the former stomping ground of Dr. Gregory House—are no exception. In need of a major floor plan facelift a few years ago, the UMCPP team visited the design drawing board to revamp patient rooms. What they came away with was a mock hospital room to test with real patients. Complete with a guest sofa, outdoor view, novel drug dispensary, and easy-to-access restroom, this hospital room became an evaluation site for patients recovering from knee and hip replacements. Healthcare professionals at UMCPP hoped that this new layout would reduce slip-and-fall accidents, medication mix-ups, and other hospital-related mishaps.

Compared to the old hospital rooms, patients staying in the mock room rated food and nursing care higher, although meals and care were the same. The most compelling results? Patients asked for 30 percent LESS pain medication in the mock room. According to many medical professionals, reduced pain is thought to lead to shorter recovery time, reduced hospital stays, and lower hospital costs.

What were once premature and isolated statistics are now a success for UMCPP. The mock patient room became a reality in 2012, when UMCPP opened its new $523 million, 636,000 square-foot hospital in Plainsboro, New Jersey. Since the grand and much-needed opening, patient satisfaction ratings have been in the 99^th percentile—a major leap from the 61^st percentile prior to the move. With infection rates at an all-time low, UMCPP will keep improving hospital care—and dispensing less pain meds.

Sources: The New York Times and HC+O

For more details on UMCPP’s innovative patient rooms, check out a floor plan here, in the New York Times’ recent article.

To see a list of top U.S. hospitals that are tackling the issue of pain management, check out Becker’s Hospital Review here.

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

#IceBucketChallenge Meets the Digital Health Sphere

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There is simply no other way to say it— the #icebucketchallenge to combat ALS has gone viral. With over 2.4 million related videos shared and more than 28 million related posts, many are calling attention to the “pure brilliance” of this campaign on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The Ice Bucket Challenge campaign has generated astounding financial gains for the ALS Association as well. Since July 29, the Association has received more than $22.9 million from roughly 500,000 new donors.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is communally increasing support and awareness of ALS across all industry sectors, including digital health. One particular healthtech company with close ties to the ALS cause, PatientsLikeMe, accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge on August 5^th. Five years prior to the company’s founding in 2004, Ben and Jamie Heywood, Co-founders, received news that their brother had been diagnosed with ALS. The search to build a health data-sharing platform that would allow patients to manage their own conditions was born. Today, PatientsLikeMe is a patient network and real-time research platform that provides support for a variety of diseases including Diabetes, Crohn’s Disease and ALS.  Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, PatientsLikeMe is continuing its disease awareness efforts on a daily basis with online patient support communities, patient profile blog posts—and of course, new Ice Bucket Challenge requests.

Sources: Forbes Magazine, New York Times, and PatientsLikeMe

To learn more about PatientsLikeMe’s investment in the ALS cause and to watch the epic PatientsLikeMe Ice Bucket Challenge, check out this recent blog post!

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

Guess How Many USB Plugs There Are!

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Can you guess how many USB plugs there are in this container?  While we can’t give you any hints (JUST YET!) we can point out the awesome DoseSpot logo imprinted on the side.  We think they’re pretty awesome and for the first 5 people that guess right, we will send you 3 in the mail!  Send us your guess by commenting here or tweeting us @DoseSpot so put your thinking cap on.

OK, we will give you one hint.  The container is 55 ounces and came filled with pretzels! 

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

Ebola on the Internet: The Digital Health Warning from Boston to West Africa

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With a 60% spike in reported cases over the past two weeks, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to spread at a frightening rate. Physicians, disaster relief responders and the World Health Organization (WHO) alike remain unsure of how to stop the deadliest outbreak to date—but one Boston-bred digital health company could have predicted it was coming. HealthMap, a team of researchers, epidemiologists, and software developers at Boston Children’s Hospital, has been conducting online outbreak monitoring and real-time surveillance of emerging public health threats since its founding in 2006. According to a recent article published in TIME Magazine, HealthMap had already alerted key U.S. government agencies about West Africa’s Ebola outbreak days before the WHO first announced it.

Using its online program, HealthMap is able to deliver aggregated intelligence on a range of emerging infectious diseases. In creating this app, HealthMap scours social media, online news sources and eyewitness reports for early signs of disease outbreaks. In bringing these data together, HealthMap achieves a unified view of current infectious diseases, their effects on human health, and can share these views with the public via a mobile app called “Outbreaks Near Me.”

Regarding the Ebola outbreak, HealthMap accessed a Kenyan news report on 23 deaths due to hemorrhagic fever in March, and promptly notified U.S. officials. Although action was not taken after this initial report, it appears that online technology has improved the ability to detect and track outbreaks. As of now, most major U.S. government agencies subscribe to Healthmap.org’s daily email alerts and online postings.

Sources: TIME Magazine and NPR

Check out HealthMap’s website here for more information.

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

ONC Identifies (and Charts) Trends in e-Prescribing

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Earlier this month, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released a Data Brief on trends in e-Prescribing as measured over the past few years. The Data Brief available here highlights compelling statistics surrounding e-Prescribing growth and adoption.  Here is what we found most riveting:

10 states with the highest e-prescribing rates as of April 2014:

1. Minnesota — 100 percent
2. Iowa — 95 percent
3. Indiana — 95 percent
4. Massachusetts — 94 percent
5. South Dakota — 90 percent
6. New Hampshire — 87 percent
7. North Dakota — 87 percent
8. Wisconsin — 87 percent
9. Kentucky — 85 percent
10. Oregon — 84 percent

10 states with the lowest e-prescribing rates as of April 2014:

1. Alaska — 48 percent
2. Nevada — 50 percent
3. California — 53 percent
4. New Jersey — 54 percent
5. New York — 59 percent
6. Colorado — 60 percent
7. Hawaii — 60 percent
8. Idaho — 62 percent
9. Utah — 62 percent
10. Tennessee — 63 percent

• December 2008: Every state with the exception of Massachusetts had physicians e-prescribing using an EHR at a rate  below 20% on the Surescripts Network
• April 2014: Every state had physicians e-prescribing using an EHR at a rate >40% and the majority of states had at least 70% of their physicians e-prescribing using an EHR

About DoseSpot
DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. To request a demo of DoseSpot’s e-Prescribing integration platforms, please visit http://www.DoseSpot.com/.