Checking For Drug Interactions

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Drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checks are becoming a new standard in electronic health record and e-Prescribing solutions.  Interaction checks are required for meaningful use and are being used by more physicians every day.

Online drug-interaction checking tools are a great at home resource.  They evaluate both prescription and over the counter medication regimens including vitamins and supplements and flag all interactions in real-time.  As online resources continue to pop up, the latest being from CVS, we compiled a list below of valuable drug interaction tools to jumpstart your search:

• CVS
• Drugs.com
• Healthline
• Medscape
• Walgreens

Meaningful Use: Stage 1 vs. Stage 2

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With Stage 2 right around the corner many EHRs, physicians, dentists, and other ‘eligible professionals’ are seeking guidance. So here it is! Today’s blog post features a Stage 1 vs. Stage 2 Comparison Table for 3 Meaningful Use Core Objectives.

More comparisons are coming…stay tuned!

….Congrats to last week’s DoseSpot #TuesdayTweetup winner @jasmith1437 and runner up @techydoc.

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Stage 1 Objective: CPOE

Use CPOE for medication orders directly entered by any licensed healthcare professional who can enter orders into the medical record per state, local and professional guidelines

Stage 1 Measure: CPOE

More than 30% of unique patients with at least one medication in their medication list seen by the EP have at least one medication order entered using CPOE

Stage 2 Objective: CPOE

Use computerized provider order entry (CPOE) for medication, laboratory and radiology orders directly entered by any licensed healthcare professional who can enter orders into the medical record per state, local and professional guidelines

Stage 2 Measure: CPOE

More than 60% of medication, 30% of laboratory, and 30% of radiology orders created by the EP during the EHR reporting period are recorded using CPOE

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Stage 1 Objective: e-Prescribing

Generate and transmit permissible prescriptions electronically (eRx)

Stage 1 Measure: e-Prescribing

More than 30% of unique patients with at least one medication in their medication list seen by the EP have at least one medication order entered using CPOE

Stage 2 Objective: e-Prescribing

Generate and transmit permissible prescriptions electronically (eRx)

Stage 2 Measure: e-Prescribing

More than 50% of all permissible prescriptions written by the EP are compared to at least one drug formulary and transmitted electronically using Certified EHR Technology

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Stage 1 Objective: Record Demographics

Record demographics: Preferred language, Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Date of birth

Stage 1 Measure: Record Demographics

More than 50% of all unique patients seen by the EP have demographics recorded as structured data

Stage 2 Objective: Record Demographics

Record demographics: Preferred language, Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Date of birth

Stage 2 Measure: Record Demographics

More than 80% of all unique patients seen by the EP have demographics recorded as structured data

Source: http://go.cms.gov/12r3Gsc

E-Prescribing 101

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Electronic prescribing is not just the ability to send prescriptions electronically to pharmacies. E-Prescribing can also increase care quality in a number of ways:

• E-prescribing makes sure that the prescriber is providing enough specific information for the pharmacist to fill the prescription, including the name of the drug, the dosage, its physical form, the route, and the physician’s instructions.
• Electronic prescribing software eliminates the time and effort of trying to understand the prescriber’s handwriting, as well as the chance of an error in that translation.
• E-prescribing significantly reduces the chance that the prescriber’s intentions are misinterpreted.
• E-prescribing is often used in conjuction with clinical decision support to ensure that any drug to drug interactions or drug to diagnosis issues are found and reported to the physician before the prescription order is completed.

Electronic prescribing is considered one of the most important areas of Healthcare IT, which is why Medicare created payment incentives for physicians who use a qualified e-prescribing system. In 2009, the incentives are an increase of 2% in revenue for each patient when e-prescribing is used. Due to the 2009 HITECH Act, electronic prescribing is required as part of any EMR (EHR) which qualifies for Medicare reimbursement in 2011.