As Director of Marketing for Lexi-Comp, the most trusted source for point of care drug information, I am always looking for ways to improve the delivery of our data into EMRs, hospital and practice management systems, and other general healthcare applications, in order to improve patient outcomes.
With the expanding demands for increased compliance and broader certification requirements in the healthcare industry, I am trying to learn as much as possible from our customers, our users, and the marketplace, in order to do the best job possible providing drug information for clinical decision support.
I look forward to hearing your comments, pro and con, providing your feedback and insight.
Are you the owner or manager of an ambulatory EMR company? What keeps you up late at night? Worried about getting your product to the market as quickly as possible and keeping your costs under control? Worried about certification? No doubt you have some thoughts about reducing medical errors by including the best drug information and internal built in logic. More and more EMR and EHR business owners and general managers are turning to Lexicomp to solve their drug information needs.
In a few short years, Lexicomp has been the fastest growing provider of drug information to the EMR market. As I said in a previous post:
" In addition to supplying the expected information such as drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions, adverse drug events, RxNorm mapping, generic drug lists, drug nomenclature, and more. Lexi-Data offers an incredibly easy to use data structure and API's and most importantly, Lexicomp is unparalleled in its customer service and providing assistance in the development process. If you are developing a new EMR and need a drug information supplier, make sure that Lexi is on your list."
I have had several comments asking for me to repeat several of my recent blog posts, so here they are:
The first one:
"In a few short years, Lexicomp has gone from being the provider of choice for drug reference information to the vendor of choice for EMR development companies looking for a supplier of drug data to include in their product. Lexi-Data provides all of the standard drug information that one would expect from the other suppliers, but it also provides the best pediatric dosing information available. In addition to supplying the expected information such as drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions, adverse drug events, RxNorm mapping, generic drug lists, drug nomenclature, and more. Lexi-Data offers an incredibly easy to use data structure and API's and most importantly, Lexicomp is unparalleled in its customer service and providing assistance in the development process. If you are developing a new EMR and need a drug information supplier, make sure that Lexi is on your list."
The second: (enjoy)
"We live in a turbulent and fast changing world. What was good yesterday is not necessarily what is best for today. Where is Netscape? How about Alta Vista? Lotus is certainly history but how many of you remember Multiplan and before that VisiCalc? The changes occur quickly -- not like the phasing out of a buggy whip.
The same could be said about more and more EMR developers who are turning to Lexi-Data for their drug information. Lexi-Data just hit the scene a little more than two years ago. And how quickly it has grown and capturing a major part of new EMR development in need of drug information. Why so?
Is it about drug information quality? Is it about ease of integrating the APIs? How about quality of the Pediatric Drug Information and drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions? Or is about the top quality customer support during the development and integration phase, where Lexicomp treats it customers like true partners?"
Needless to say, as you can imagine, it is about all of the above. If you haven't acted yet, it is about time.
In a few short years, Lexicomp has gone from being the provider of choice for drug reference information to the vendor of choice for EMR development companies looking for a supplier of drug data to include in their product. Lexi-Data provides all of the standard drug information that one would expect from the other suppliers, but it also provides the best pediatric dosing information available. In addition to supplying the expected information such as drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions, adverse drug events, RxNorm mapping, generic drug lists, drug nomenclature, and more. Lexi-Data offers an incredibly easy to use data structure and API's and most importantly, Lexicomp is unparalleled in its customer service and providing assistance in the development process. If you are developing a new EMR and need a drug information supplier, make sure that Lexi is on your list.
We live in a turbulent and fast changing world. What was good yesterday is not necessarily what is best for today. Where is Netscape? How about Alta Vista? Lotus is certainly history but how many of you remember Multiplan and before that VisiCalc? The changes occur quickly -- not like the phasing out of a buggy whip.
The same could be said about more and more EMR developers who are turning to Lexi-Data for their drug information. Lexi-Data just hit the scene a little more than two years ago. And how quickly it has grown and capturing a major part of new EMR development in need of drug information. Why so?
Is it about drug information quality? Is it about ease of integrating the APIs? How about quality of the Pediatric Drug Information and drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions? Or is about the top quality customer support during the development and integration phase, where Lexicomp treats it customers like true partners?
Needless to say, as you can imagine, it is about all of the above. If you haven't acted yet, it is about time.
Are you developing EMRs and practice management systemswhere speed to market is critical?One of the modules of such systems is the inclusion of drug information.Since this is neither the expertise of your developers nor your content people,it is important to identify the preferred drug information provider early in the process.Fourcriteria are critical in making this decision.First,quality of information.Second,flexibility of design and APIs.Third,simplicity of data structure.Fourth,and very important,customer support during the development period and after release. More and more EMRs are now using Lexicompdrug information as part of their offering.And there is a reason for that.
Lexi-Data is the foundation of Lexicomp's clinical decision support architecture is quickly becoming the standard for when companies need an up-to-date comprehensive drug database. This product provides patient specific alerts and referential content to support sound treatment decisions in areas such as drug interaction checking (drug-drug and drug-food), drug allergy checking, therapeutic duplication checking, RxNorm Mappings, supports Surescripts Certification, Drug Classifications, dose range checking (adult and pediatric), Patient Education, Pediatric and neonatal drug interactions and more.
Lexicomp has now released the second phase of a comprehensive web services solution to EMR developers to access drug information. For those EMR and Practice Management systems that do not want to store drug information in their product, they now have an option. In the second phase, Lexicomp has released web services to include a proprietary Black Box warning decision tool to reduce alert overload. Phase II also include dose range checking (DRC) and 12 new searching tools.
For EMR developers that have need for any of the following drug nformation or tools in their product, Pediatric Dose Range Checking (Lexicomp is the leader in this area); Patient Education Materials; Drug Interaction Software; RxNorm Mapping; Medicine Lists, Generic Drugs; Dose Information; ePrescribing, and more--- they should call Lexicomp.
As Matt Bennardo pointed out, when EMR and EHR companies are under development and they are looking to include drug and medicine information, they must given proper consideration to the quality of the drug information, the ease of installation, and the level of customer service provided by the drug data provider. In order to meet the Meaningful Use standards, the EMR and EHR developers now care more about drug and medicine information than ever before. They now care about drug interactions, drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions, adverse drug events, patient education pamphlets, dose information, pediatric dosing inforamation, drug brand names and drug generic names.
Hundreds of Lexi-Data customers are now integrating Lexicomp reference and transaction drug information into their systems under development. As Matt had said:
"Comprehensive data covers all decision support Meaningful Use requirements:
Compatible with required standards like RxNorm
Supports drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checking
All data necessary for ePrescribing and CPOE
Additional functionality like dose range checking
Fastest and easiest integration gets you to market faster:
Easy-to-use APIs and web services -- you choose which you want
Superior one-on-one customer service
Most intuitive data structure and fastest implementation
New features set you apart from the competition:
Black Box Warning filters to alleviate clinician alert fatigue
Patient education available in 19 languages
Click the links on this page to find out more about Lexi-Data now!"
Companies developing new EMRs for small to medium healthcare settings often wait too long to consider what drug information provider to use for their product. There are only a few drug information providers and it is advisable to know the pluses and minuses as early in the process as possible. It is not just about drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions. It is not just about drug dosing information, drug nomenclature, dosing precautions, patient education leaflets, branded and generic medication lists.
It is also about which vendor is the easiest to work with. Who will accomodate your needs and not their needs. Who will help you resolve cerifying body issues? Who is the best of the best when it comes to pediatric dosing? Who will provide decision trees for black box warnings? Who will provide easy to use APIs? Who provides ongoing topnotch communication? And who is at the cutting edge? Those are just some of the quesitons you need to answer.
Many EMR and EHR developers wait too long to begin for looking for a supplier of drug data and drug interaction databases. In some respects it seems like a simple chore. There are only a few drug data providers. But the sooner these developers start, the better. Why so?
First, there is a big difference in data structure among the few providers. Lexicomp happens to have a very simple and logical structure, which does solve some headaches if you come in late into the game. But even if you start in a timely way, simpler and more logical is better.
Second, how comprehensive is the data provided? Consider the following needs: drug-drug interaction, drug-allergy interaction, pediatric dosing information, therapeutic dosing information, brand vs generic, Black-Box Warnings, Patient Education Leaflets in multiple languages, drug classifications, and more. There are many things to consider and work on before submitting your development to the certification process. You obviously don't want any surprises.
In the last 24 months more and more EMR developers have selected Lexicomp as their drug information provider. There are many reasons for that. We encourage you to call early in the process.
Many EMR vendors are scrambling to complete their products quickly so they can pass through the various certifying bodies (their choice about who they go to). Often overlooked early in the process is the importance of selecting the best drug information provider. Making the right selection early will save headaches later on.
It is not just a matter of drug data quality, but even more importantly about the structure of the data files and how easy those files are to work with. It's not just about the actual drug reference database, but about the ease of using various APIs and working seamlessly with the data provider. Lexicomp is quickly developing a stellar reputation in this market segment, as is demonstrated by our growing share of the market. There are many things that need to be considered by the EMR vendor in their search for the best provider to work with. Some of these include the quality of pediatric dosage database, dose administation, patient education, Black Box Warning decision tree, and more. If you are at a decision point in the area of drug information, make sure you give Lexicomp a call.
First, if you are developing a new EMR or application that requires inclusion of drug and medicine information, don't delay the process of securing a drug data vendor. With the new certication rules you are better off finding a vendor who is easy to work with, flexible and supportive. There are only a few drug data providers in the market, so it shouldn't be difficult to idenitfy them.
Secondly, pediatric and neonatal dose ranging checking is becoming more of a must everyday. The web-based EHR company, Practice Fusion, released a study earlier this year where it has been shown that EHR's are having a real impact on the decrease of infant mortality. This is great news in general and hats off to those EHR's that have elected to focus some of their development efforts on dose range checking.
As my colleague Matt Bennardo posted several months ago, "There are drug information vendors like Lexicomp that understand there is a vast world of difference between adults and children. Lexicomp's durg information is trusted by dozens of EMR vendors to guide clincians in prescribing, fulfilling and admnistering drugs to patients of all types --- including children."
If you are the beginning of process of developing a new EMR or looking to modify a current EMR, contact Lexicomp for some suggestions.
I am reposting comments I made several months ago. Why? Because it is very important to build an EMR with the best pediatric dosing information possible. The implication are clear. So, if you are in the midst of building a new EMR or just want to include a link from your EHR over to Lexicomp Online's Pediatric Dose Range Checking, I would suggest reading this.
It might seem like an easy question, but the answer is neither obvious nor unimportant. Both pediatric and neonatal dose range calculators are receiving more focus and attention. This is serious business, with serious consequences. Last week, Matt Bennardo wrote a blog posting wherehe cited astudy by Practice Fusion, where it has been shown that EHR's are having a real impact on the decrease in infant mortality. This is great news for those EHR's that have elected to use better dose range checking calculators.
As I said in a post last week. "Allpediatric dosage calculatorsare not created equally. As Matt goes on to say, "But luckily there are drug information vendors like Lexicomp that understand there is a vast world of difference between adults and children -- and often between older children and neonates. Lexicomp's drug information is trusted by dozens of EHR vendors to guide clinicians in prescribing, fulfilling, and administering drugs to patients of all types -- including children."
Lexicomp provides both "machine readable" transactional information (geared towards specific populations) for use in clinical decision support, as well as "human readable" reference materials for clinicians and patients. Even Lexicomp's patient education leaflets are written with either adult or pediatric patients in mind.
If you are developing an EMR or looking to improve an EHR or HIS system, I would suggest reaching out toLexicompfor some suggestions. Lexicomp is known for its pediatric and neonatal drug information.
In the last several years that have been more and more EMR entrants into the ambulatory marketplace. As part of the development of these products they have been required to include drug information as part of their clinical decision support solution. Lately there have been more requests to provide this drug and medicine information by way of web services calls rather than embedding the data directly into the product. Often times there might be limitations on the EMR's development team and accessing this drug information through web services call could be the simpler solution.
Lexicomp recently released web services calls for drug information that would cover Meaningful Use Stage 1. So for EMRs in the development stage looking for:
In the last two years Lexicomp has quickly become a major provider of drug information to EMR companies for clinical decision support. Many of the new EMRs hitting the market are using Lexicomp medicine information for drug interactions, dose range checking, therapeutic dosages, adverse drug advents, electonic eprescring, and more. Lexi-Data has become the popular choice based on top quality information, unparalleled customer service, state-of-the-art data structure and top-notch APIs. Now something new!!
Lexi-Data has introduced a new structure which allows for the customization of Black Boxed Warning to reduce alert fatigue, yet at the same time delivers the warning to the person who needs it most. This information structure is new and as far as we know not available elsewhere.
API and Database Features:
Incorporates not only the BBW as published within the package insert, but also pulls contextual or supporting information as written by Lexicomp clinical experts
Each summary is broken down and tagged as separate messages / instructions
Each message is paired to a recipient user category – this allow for differentiating where in the workflow of an EMR the message may be displayed
Can be filtered for a more specific and targeted set of messages to clinician/recipient groups, as defined for their site
This is terrific stuff. So for anyone developing drug interaction software or eprescribing modules, this is something you will want to look into.
What do these words have in common? "Pediatric dosing information;Medicine lists; Medicine brand names; Drug-drug interaction; Drug-allergy interactions; Drug interaction database; ePrescribing; Patient education."
There are many EMR products under development, many targeting smaller hospitals and ambulatory facilities. There are also a number of other EMR and Practice Management products that are going through major product re-design. Many of these development groups need to confront the decision about what drug information supplier to use. As the title of this posting says "EMR developers are now searching for drug and disease information providers that are easy to work with" (Note: most are not). This might not sound like a tall order, but as it turns out, it is much more difficult than they think. It's about the data as much as it about the quality of the relationship as well as the flexibility and helpfulness of the vendor.
How much will they help in setting up the API's? Do they have a specific pediatric dose range checking product? Do they have patient education leaflets? Are they available in foreign languages?
Many universities and institutions are now expressing an interest in a standardized drug database. They are in search of a high quality, dependable database that helps their academic department build a reliable model to determine pharmaceutical outcomes. Lexicomp is often the preferred choice.
Whether the researcher is in need of a drug reference database for clinical decision support, for dosage administration, patient education material, drug classifications (brand or generic), adverse drug events, drug-drug interaction, drug-allergy interaction, more and more academics are coming to Lexicomp to secure their drug database information. Check out this page for more information.
It might seem like an easy question, but the answer is neither obvious nor unimportant. Both pediatric and neonatal dose range calculators are receiving more focus and attention. This is serious business, with serious consequences. Last week, Matt Bennardo wrote a blog posting wherehe cited astudy by Practice Fusion, where it has been shown that EHR's are having a real impact on the decrease in infant mortality. This is great news for those EHR's that have elected to use better dose range checking calculators.
As I said in a post last week. "Allpediatric dosage calculatorsare not created equally. As Matt goes on to say, "But luckily there are drug information vendors like Lexicomp that understand there is a vast world of difference between adults and children -- and often between older children and neonates. Lexicomp's drug information is trusted by dozens of EHR vendors to guide clinicians in prescribing, fulfilling, and administering drugs to patients of all types -- including children."
Lexicomp provides both "machine readable" transactional information (geared towards specific populations) for use in clinical decision support, as well as "human readable" reference materials for clinicians and patients. Even Lexicomp's patient education leaflets are written with either adult or pediatric patients in mind.
If you are developing an EMR or looking to improve an EHR or HIS system, I would suggest reaching out toLexicompfor some suggestions. Lexicomp is known for its pediatric and neonatal drug information.
Matt Bennardo had a greatblog postlast week where he wrote about the positive benefits ofMeaningful Use on the development of EHRsand their impact on patient safety. He cites astudy by Practice Fusion, where it has been shown that EHR's are having a real impact on the decrease in infant mortality. This is great news!
As Matt wrote, "Of course, to get these kinds of results, the information in the EHR needs to be accurate, timely, complete, actionable, and specific to the patient. With respect to pediatric and neonatal patients, that last point is especially important. An EHR that is only set up to perform dose range checking and interaction checking on adults won't be nearly as helpful when it comes to children."
Allpediatric dosage calculatorsare not created equally. As Matt goes on to say, "But luckily there are drug information vendors like Lexicomp that understand there is a vast world of difference between adults and children -- and often between older children and neonates. Lexicomp's drug information is trusted by dozens of EHR vendors to guide clinicians in prescribing, fulfilling, and administering drugs to patients of all types -- including children.
Lexicomp provides both "machine readable" transactional information (geared towards specific populations) for use in clinical decision support, as well as "human readable" reference materials for clinicians and patients. Even Lexicomp's patient education leaflets are written with either adult or pediatric patients in mind.
If you are developing an EMR or looking to improve an EHR or HIS system, I would suggest reaching out toLexicompfor some suggestions.
What do all of these have in common? Well for one thing, they are being driven in part by the demands of Meaningful Use requirements. Here is just one example of Meaningful Use effect. Some of the demands are actually in place, and many others roll out over the next few years. EPrescribing in Florida looks like it might be taking an interesting turn as free application provided by the State may be going away, or so I have heard. This recently posted ePrecribing blog described it in greater detail. And a second blog.
As Meaningful Use requirements have dictated more relevant application of medication and drug data within EMR and EHR systems, the awareness of the nuances of these databases has also gone up. Recognition of the following terms is becoming more commonplace: Drug Reference Database; Dosage Range, Dosing in Pediatrics, Drug Interaction List, Pediatric Dosage Calculator, Medicine Interaction. Clinical Decision Support Systems, Drug Content, and more.
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