Drug Data for Clinical Decision Support

•   Drug - allergy checking
•   Drug - drug interaction
•   Duplicate therapy checking
•   Drug lists

• 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

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? 

                         One drug data provider stands out above else....Lexicomp.  If your serious, check them out.

Matt Bennardo had a great blog post last week where he wrote about the positive benefits of Meaningful Use on the development of EHRs and their impact on patient safety.  He cites a study 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."

All pediatric dosage calculators are 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 to Lexicomp for some suggestions.

My colleague,  Matt Bennardo,  wrote a wonderful blog posting about the potential upcoming changes in stage two Meaningful Use guidelines as it relates to Patient Education.  This could be a very big deal.

My colleague,  Matt Bennardo,  wrote a wonderful blog posting about the potential upcoming changes in stage two Meaningful Use guidelines as it relates to Patient Education.  This could be a very big deal.

 Patient education will become more and more important over time,  because there is a strong belief that better patient outcomes will result if patients know  more about their condition, treatment program,  and drug regimen.   On the drug side,  this could mean  dose administration regimen,  dosage precautions, drug interactions,  drug-allergy interactions, adverse drug events and more.

What EMR vendors (and institutions)  need to start thinking about today,  are the implications that requirements to supply Patient Education Leaflets,  likely will not just mean English. 

In his posting,   Matt,  states:  "The workgroups are additionally talking about  better and more relevant patient education. One point of discussion has  been providing the materials in "common primary languages" for every  metropolitan statistical area. This would require providers to have  patient education available in any language that is spoken by 5% of the  population they serve, or at least 1000 people in the same population --  whichever is lower. This is a big deal, and not every information  vendor is in a position to deliver on this!

He goes on to say:

Lexicomp can help bridge the gap
Luckily, some vendors are. Lexicomp has long had patient education materials in many languages. At last count, they could provide up to 19 different languages commonly spoken in the United States and Canada. This is just one example of how a forward-thinking drug information vendor was able to anticipate and meet advanced requirements before they were even formulated. So when evaluating vendor partnerships for your EMR or HIS system, it's not enough to find one who can check off boxes. Instead, you need to find a vendor with the same commitment to improving patient care that ONC and CMS are seeking."

Please take note now,  early in the integration of your drug module into your EMR system.

Several weeks ago I wrote a blog posting that included a list of drug information considerations for EMR vendors that were launching new products or looking to improve their current products.   As I wrote:

More and more EMR vendors and hospital EHR/HIS systems are attempting to improve their drug information to further enhance clinical decision support.  Below are just a few areas where having the right medicine data can make all the difference in the world.

• Drug Interaction Lists
• Adverse Drug Event Alerts
• Patient Education Pamphlets in 19 Languages
• RxNorm Mapping
• Pediatric Dosage Calculations
• Drug Allergy Interactions
• Clinical Guidelines
• Drug Interaction Software
• Drug - Drug Interactions
• Drug - Allergy interactions

There are very few drug information providers in the marketplace that have both quality data and a top notch,  customer-oriented support staff.   Cerner/Multum and  Lexicomp top the list.   Lexicomp offers  a unique blend of top quality information  coupled with the finest internal support anywhere.   Your IT guys will love you for going with Lexicomp -- a long-term partner in your road to success.

• Drug Interaction Lists
• Adverse Drug Event Alerts
• Patient Education Pamphlets in 19 Languages
• RxNorm Mapping
• Pediatric Dosage Calculations
• Drug Allergy Interactions
• Clinical Guidelines
• Drug Interaction Software
• Drug - Drug Interactions
• Drug - Allergy interactions

• Drug Interaction Lists
• Adverse Drug Event Alerts
• Patient Education Pamphlets in 19 Languages
• RxNorm Mapping
• Pediatric Dosage Calculations
• Drug Allergy Interactions
• Clinical Guidelines

·         Drug interaction

·         Drug-drug interactions

·         Patient eduction

·         Drug reference and drug content

·         Electronic prescribing

·         Adverse drug events

·         Clinical decision support