Drug Interaction Data for EHRs and ePrescribers

When developing an EHR system, when is the right time to evaluate a drug interaction database? Because there are only a handful of vendors in the market, it makes sense to evaluate their respective offerings several times. Certainly, before you make the final decision to go with any particular vendor, you should talk once more to the other data providers to ensure nothing has changed.

A lot can change in a few months
One vendor that has added a lot of enhancements to their medication and clinical information is Lexicomp. Evaluating their product today versus a year ago would show many differences in capabilities.

Some of the new enhancements include:

• New web services calls that allow for implementation of Meaningful Use Stage 1 requirements without an installed database
• New Black Box Warnings information that helps alleviate alert fatigue
• Expanded patient education leaflets in multiple languages

In an industry like this where things can change quickly but in which product development can sometimes span years, it's important to check in with possible vendors more than once! If you haven't talked to Lexicomp recently, click the links on this page to set up a conversation with them now.