Alert fatigue is related to the barrage of messages provided clinical decision support systems which can overwhelm a provider and cause them to ignore messages. The alerts, while found to be helpful in some cases, can result in a type of "fatigue" whereby the provider, after receiving too many alerts, begins to ignore and/or override the alerts. Receiving too many alerts can result in slowing the provider down rendering the alert useless.
One of the key reasons that clinicians are frustrated with decision support related to drug interaction software is the potential for this alert fatigue. Clinicans do not want to be messaged regarding dosage precautions related to an interaction which has already been recognized and addressed. It is particularly important in the era of electronic prescribing to engineer systems which can present the appropriate information to the appropriate person. Systems need to recognize whether an individual has previously addressed the issue, rather than simply blindly alerting to the presence of two medications within the medicine list. A collaborative effort between
drug database providers and application vendors is needed, and discussions to improve the quality of alerts, while decreasing the quantity, are moving forward. These will greatly improve satisfaction with these tools.
Not all clinical information is structured the same!
The more detail that your medication and clinical information vendor provides about crucial alerts, the easier it is for you to implement customization for your users. If every alert looks the same (which is true of what many vendors provide!), then that means that your users will have to go through them all one by one, setting their preferences on warnings and dosage precautions by hand. Then they have to keep their settings up to date as new alerts are added. That's not user friendly design!
By contrast, Lexicomp's implementation of Black Box Warnings (also called Black Boxed Warnings) gives a great deal of flexibility to developers to allow for multi-dimensional customization. Each warning contains information about which clinician the alert is intended for, how severe the alert is, and whether the alert applies only to patients with specific conditions (e.g., pregnancy).
Win customer loyalty by automating alert customization! This way, you can automate much of the customization without having to ask for input from every individual user. You can simply have the system hide alerts intended for nurses from pharmacists, and vice-versa. Likewise, you can make your system intelligent enough to hide alerts related to pregnancy from male patients. This is the kind of smart implementation that users are looking for to help them aviod alert fatigue and become more efficient and effective clinicians. Talk to Lexicomp today to learn more!
EMR vendors are not the only ones rapidly deploying clinical decision support systems to healthcare providers. Dental professionals are demanding that their practice management systems overcome massive development hurdles in order to comply with Meaningful Use standards.
There is a buzz in the dental technology community about Meaningful Use and incorporating more clinical decision support into the practice management system workflow. If you are searching for the best dental specific drug database to integrate into your dental EMR, turn to Lexicomp. There are very few suppliers of drug data within the dental market and even fewer still that are easy to work with. And if you are looking for an easy-to-use, out-of-the-box ePrescribing tool, trust our partner DoseSpot to deliver the solution. What do all of these companies have in common? They are easy to work with and provide you with the ability to get to the market fast!
Don't wait to the end of your development process to worry about: dose range checking, pediatric dosing, drug calculators, medicine interactions, dosage precautions, clinical guidelines, drug interaction software, duplicate therapy, drug classifications, generic drug names, drug nomenclature and more. These are critical paths for a dental EMR build. But it's not just about the information. It's about who you select as your partner and who has seamless API's which makes your development easier.
You owe it to your product and your customer to make the right choice.
The landscape of Healthcare Information Technology is rapidly changing leaving many EMR vendors searching for answers about how to develop their systems. It also has caused confusion among clinicians as to what actually defines meaningful use of those systems.
For those seeking clarity as to the direction of healthcare, a recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services defines the
National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Healthcare. It is interesting to note that Lexicomp content can help achieve the number one goal outlined in this report -
safer care by reducing the number of serious adverse drug events.
Lexicomp's transactional drug data and reference information supports various components of Stage 1 meaningful use and certification criteria from ONC's Final Rule, specifically the implementation of electronic clinical decision support rules (drug-to-drug and drug allergy contraindication checking) based on the data elements included in: problem list, medication list, demographics and laboratory test results.
Lexi-Data, Lexicomp's clinical decision support database, will help you meet several aspects of clinical decision support required for certification. Here's how:
Drug Interaction Data - we'll provide your system data that enables clinicians to screen for drug interactions, including drug-allergy, drug-drug and drug-food
RxNorm Mapping - we promote interoperability through mapping to industry standard RxNorm
Drug Reference Data - integrate drug reference information, such as drug images and black box warnings, into your system
Patient Education Data - we provide patient education information that allows users to generate patient-specific handouts for medications (available in 19 languages), and conditions and procedures (available in English and Spanish)
Dose Range Checking - we provide data that enables clinicians to receive dosing alerts for medications, including limits for pediatric patients
Lexi-Data is designed for easy implementation. Our intuitive database design will help you seamlessly integrate complex drug databases into your system.
Lexicomp's transactional drug data and reference information supports various components of Stage 1 meaningful use and certification criteria from ONC's Final Rule, specifically the implementation of electronic clinical decision support rules (drug-to-drug and drug allergy contraindication checking) based on the data elements included in: problem list, medication list, demographics and laboratory test results.
Lexi-Data, Lexicomp's clinical decision support database, will help you meet several aspects of clinical decision support required for certification. Here's how:
Drug Interaction Data - we'll provide your system data that enables clinicians to screen for drug interactions, including drug-allergy, drug-drug and drug-food
RxNorm Mapping - we promote interoperability through mapping to industry standard RxNorm
Drug Reference Data - integrate drug reference information, such as drug images and black box warnings, into your system
Patient Education Data - we provide patient education information that allows users to generate patient-specific handouts for medications (available in 19 languages), and conditions and procedures (available in English and Spanish)
Dose Range Checking - we provide data that enables clinicians to receive dosing alerts for medications, including limits for pediatric patients
Lexi-Data is designed for easy implementation. Our intuitive database design will help you seamlessly integrate complex drug databases into your system.
Are you an EMR or EHR vendor looking to enter the ambulatory care market? If so, now is the right time to capitalize on the expanded use of clinical decision support tools by these healthcare professionals. A recent article in Healthcare IT News states that "one third of physician practices and community health clinics are poised to replace their electronic medical records systems". Are you ready for the this onslaught of new business or are still trying to launch your system?
If you are lagging behind the development curve, a surefire way to enter the market faster is to partner with a proven leader in drug databases for clinical decision support systems. Lexicomp's integrated solutions help hospitals, EMRs, consumer websites and other health IT developers easily implement drug reference information and drug data into their systems. When integrated into HIS systems, Lexicomp solutions provide clinicians access to current and relevant drug information, and supply end users the functionality to support several aspects of clinical decision support required by an EMR for certification.
Whether you are looking for basic drug nomenclature, dosage range calculators, drug interaction software, or ePrescribing solutions, turn to Lexicomp to help you enter the ambulatory market faster!
Selecting the right drug database to power your EMR system is essential for fast implementation and safe and accurate clinical decision support
Lexicomp’s integrated solutions help hospitals, EHRs, consumer websites and other health IT developers quickly and easily implement drug reference information and drug data into their systems. When integrated into HIS systems, Lexicomp’s reference and drug data solutions provide clinicians access to the most current and relevant drug information available – enabling them to improve decision making and enhance patient safety. Our integrated solutions also supply end users the functionality to support several aspects of clinical decision support required by an EMR for certification.
Lexicomp will be exhibiting in booth 6653 at the 2011 HIMSS Conference in Orlando, Florida. Visit the booth to see product demonstrations and learn how Lexicomp can help your EHR comply with meaningful use standards.
Are you an EHR vendor who will be attending HIMSS 2011? If so, be sure to mark your calendar now to schedule time with Lexicomp - the new name in drug product information and clinical decision support.
Lexicomp will exhibiting in booth 6653 at the upcoming HIMSS 2011 conference in Orlando, Florida from February 21 - 23. Lexicomp will be partnering with DoseSpot to detail their exciting new developments regarding ePrescribing solutions.
Lexicomp's integrated solutions help hospitals, EMRs, consumer websites and other health IT developers easily implement drug reference information and drug data into their systems. When integrated into HIS systems, Lexicomp solutions provide clinicians access to current and relevant drug information, and supply end users the functionality to support several aspects of clinical decision support required by an EMR for certification.
The number of healthcare professionals utilizing ePrescribing has steadily increased in the past year as federal policy initiatives continue to drive the growth of clinical decision support tools. At a recent meeting in Washington D.C., Surescripts announced that more than 200,000 office-based clinicians now utilize this means of prescription writing.
Surescripts also revealed that 47 states more than doubled their use of ePrescribing routing, and 29 states more than doubled their use of ePresbribing benefit information. Additionally, the company published a ranking of the top 10 states adopting ePrescribing and these are listed below in order.
- Massachusettes
- Michigan
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- North Carolina
- Connecticut
- Pennsylvania
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Florida
Are you in EHR vendor looking to enter the market? Choosing a state with a high adoption of ePrescribing usage would be a good place to target your launch. In addition to geography, you should also consider the drug databases that power your ePrescribing module. Lexicomp offers the best medication databases designed to alert prescribers of duplicate therapy considerations, dosage range checking and drug interactions. Contact Lexicomp today to learn more about how to enhance your clinical decision support system with Lexi-Data.
With the upcoming ePrescribing mandate for Minnesota dentists looming closer, many dentists are wondering how they will adhere to the state compliance standards by January 1, 2011. Patterson Dental's EagleSoft practice management system has provided a compliance solution through its new partnership with the ePrescribing vendor DoseSpot. While EagleSoft does not currently offer an integrated ePrescribing feature, Patterson is recommending DoseSpot as a stand alone application in the interim.
Selecting DoseSpot as an ePrescribing vendor is significant for EagleSoft customers because of the Lexicomp drug databases powering the DoseSpot clinical decision support tool. When you buy DoseSpot's ePrescribing module, you are actually getting the benefit of two great resources in one...DoseSpot and Lexicomp! Dentists can not only send electronic prescriptions to the pharmacy, but they can also review dental-specific pharmacology content including drug monographs and medication alerts.
For more information about Minnesota's ePrescribing mandate including Patterson EagleSoft's solution for dentists, see the link below.
http://pattersonsupport.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14474
For the past year, we have been hearing about the "carrot" approach by the U.S. government to increase the meaningful use of EHRs within our national healthcare system. The 2009 economic stimulus package provided Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments to clinicians who adopted clinical decision support into their workflow. We are now starting to gather metrics regarding what this actually means to EHR vendors and healthcare providers.
According to a 2010 survey by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, a little more than half (50.7%) of office-based physicians in the U.S. reported using EHRs in their practices. This is an increase from 48.3% physician EHR use in 2009.
The physician EHR usage incentives appear to be working as shown by the 2010 increase in usage. Are you an EHR vendor trying to capitalize on this growth trend within the healthcare industry? If so, Lexicomp can help you get your EHR system to the market faster and with better data for clinical decision support. Whether you are seeking drug databases, drug nomenclature, duplicate therapy checking, or dosage range checking capabilities, Lexicomp has your solution. Contact Lexicomp today and you'll be one step closer to launching your EHR system!
Are you an EHR vendor with clients in Minnesota? If so, I'm sure that you have been scrambling to comply with the state law defining the use of ePrescribing.
A recent article by HealthData Management summarizes that, "The new law mandates use of electronic prescribing by Jan. 1, 2011. Prescribers and dispensers must use either the Health Level Seven messaging standards or the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs’ SCRIPT standard to transmit prescriptions and prescription-related information. The law does not mandate use of electronic health records. But to ensure EHR systems are interoperable, they must be CCHIT-certified. Further, the EHRs must meet the e-prescribing provisions of the law."
For full guidance about Minnesota's ePrescribing mandate, click on the link below.
http://www.health.state.mn.us/e-health/eprescribing/erx121409guidance.pdf
As more states migrate to healthcare standards similar to Minnesota, you must be ready! Lexi-Comp can help by offering drug nomenclature, duplicate therapy screening, dose range checking, and drug interaction databases essential for ePrescribing.
Are you looking to add clinical decision support such as ePrescribing into your dental practice management system?
Dental practice management systems have come a long way over the years. Many dental practices have become virtually “paperless” because patient information, including insurance policies, billing records, medical histories, and x-rays can all be stored electronically. Because practice management systems are now functional in so many ways, many dentists are asking, “why can’t I access drug information and interactions with my system?”
“Lexi-Comp has dramatically improved my workflow, but I still have to cut and paste drug information from my practice information system into Lexi-Comp ONLINE,” Dr. Flucke said. “I do it because I honestly feel it’s the right thing to do for my patients, but I would love to see it integrated into my practice management system.”
Practice management systems for pharmacists, physicians and entire health systems have already successfully integrated with Lexi-Comp’s databases. This means that when a drug name is entered in a patient record, it is automatically linked to the monograph in Lexi-Comp’s system, providing one-click access to point-of-care information. These strategic partnerships improve patient care while streamlining the workflow of clinicians.
Currently, Lexi-Comp is working toward partnering with dental practice management system providers to seamlessly integrate drug information into existing programs. The company hopes to have this functionality available to dental professionals in the near future. Dentists are encouraged to request this functionality from their practice management system providers.
“Lexi-Comp is out there making this happen,” Dr. Benjamin said. “I appreciate the company’s initiatives to help us create a higher standard of care in dentistry, and healthcare as a whole. We have a responsibility to use all the tools necessary to give our patients the best possible care; having Lexi-Comp makes it easier.”
Are you an EHR vendor trying to build your own system?
There are many pitfalls to consider when evaluating the "build it" or "buy it" development scenario. One component of any clinical decision support system is the drug database and drug nomenclature contained within the system. This allows users to screen for drug interactions, review safe dosage ranges, and flag any potential duplicate therapies. These functions are essential for any ePrescribing module and are a requirement for the Meaningful Use of EHR standards.
If you want to get your EMR system the market quickly, then the "buy it" scenario is probably your best choice. Lexi-Comp offers this drug product information within its Lexi-Data product for integration into your EMR system. Specializing in pediatric dosage calculations, Lexi-Comp is establishing its medication databases as the new standard for medication safety.
Just remember, you may end up spending just as much money developing your own EMR system as you will spend by purchasing a "bolt on" solution from a content vendor like Lexi-Comp.
The number of physicians utilizing eprescribing as their main method for writing prescriptions is increasing. Why? First, because it is more efficient. Second, government mandates will soon require that eprescribing be used to maximize reimbursement. So how many people are using eprescribing?
According to Surescripts, operator of a national e-prescribing network, more than 200,000 office-based prescribers in the United States now use electronic prescribing technology. As part of these eprescribing applications, the practitioner is expecting robust drug information to be included. Issues of drug interactions, therapeutic dosages, drug nomenclature, pediatric dosing charts, pediatric dose calculations, medication brand names, duplicate drug therapy and more, are all part of the information that practitioners are looking for when they use an eprescribing tool.
Are you developing an EMR or EHR and need to make sure you have a top source of drug information? There are actually just a few providers of this information, including Lexi-Comp and Cerner/Multum. Make sure you don't wait to the end of your development process to decide which provider you are going with.
Are you an EHR vendor seeking to integrate a drug database into your system? Are you looking for clinical decision support to assist with drug interactions, duplicate therapy, and dosage calculations for an ePrescribing module? If so, turn to Lexi-Comp for your medication database solutions.
Lexi-Comp maintains clinical decision support content covering drug interactions, drug allergy, dose range checking, and duplicate therapy alerts that meet the level of patient safety required in EHR products. The product is called Lexi-Data and it is the foundation of Lexi-Comp's clinical decision support architecture. Lexi-Data provides patient specific alerts and referential content to support sound treatment decisions. Implementation is fast and easy and Lexi-Comp will guide you through the development process.
Stop worrying about what medication database to integrate into your EHR system. Lexi-Comp is your answer for meaningful use and certification criteria.
With the recent changes regarding meaningful use of EHR, system vendors are faced with many clinical decision support challenges when developing new software applications. One such challenge is how to easily integrate a drug interaction database into an existing EHR framework.
To quickly overcome this obstacle, many EHR vendors are turning to Lexi-Comp for a drug interaction software solution. Lexi-Comp has a comprehensive drug interaction database concerning drug-drug and drug-food interactions available through our integrated product, Lexi-Data. Lexi-Data's drug-drug interaction API accepts as an input one or more drugs. Drugs can be single ingredient agents or multi-ingredient agents and requests for drug interaction checking can be made for either generic drug names or brand names.
To get the drug interaction data that you need with an uncompromising level of customer service, trust Lexi-Comp to deliver. Contact Lexi-Comp today to learn how you can quickly and easily integrate a drug interaction database into your EHR system.
The nation's healthcare system is undergoing a transformation in an effort to improve the quality, safety and efficiency in information exchanges of EHR technology. EHR vendors can impact patient safety through systems that provide dosage calculators, drug interaction, duplicate therapy checking and ePrescribing.
The Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs are created to aid clinicians during the technology transition phase, but the impact of this change on both providers and patients will stretch far beyond the duration of these programs.
The Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs provide a financial reward for the meaningful use of EHRs to achieve health and efficiency goals. By implementing and meaningfully using an EHR system, providers will reap benefits beyond financial incentives - like reduction in errors, availability of records and data, reminders and alerts, clinical decision support and e-Prescribing/refill automation.
To qualify for incentive payments, meaningful use requirements must be met in the following ways:
- Medicare EHR incentive program - Eligible professionals and hospitals must successfully demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record technology every year they participate in the program.
- Medicaid EHR incentive program - Eligible professionals and hospitals may qualify for incentive payments for the adoption, implementation, upgrade or the demonstration of meaningful use in their first year of participation. They must successfully demonstrate meaningful use for the remaining years they participate in the program.
EHR vendors who design clinical decision support technology now have a new standard established by the Department of Health and Human Services to define meaningful use of EHR technology. Two regulations have been released, one of which defines the "meaningful use" objectives that providers must meet to qualify for the bonus payments, and the other which identifies the technical capabilities required for certified EHR technology. Examples of meaningful use of EHR certification standards include:
- Provide a standardized drug nomenclature for clinical drugs compatible with RxNorm
- Provide drug - drug and drug - allergy contraindications based on medication list, medication allergy list and computerized provider order entry
- Provide clinicians with the ability to adjust notifications provided for drug - drug and drug - allergy interaction checks
- Enable the user to electronically check if drugs are in a formulary or preferred drug list
- Enable the user to electronically compare two or more medication lists to eliminate duplicate therapy
- Implement automated, electronic clinical decision support rules and notifications based on the data elements included in: medication list, problem list, demographics and laboratory test results
EHR vendors play a critical role in creating higher quality, safer, more effective health care systems. Whether it's through ePrescribing, drug interaction screening or dose range checking, EHR systems offer clinical decision support to enhance therapy decisions. Recently, the final rules were published by the Department of Health and Human Services defining meaningful use of EHR and the EHR incentive program. Health care providers now have additional funding to support the meaningful use of EHR as well as guidelines that can help implementation in a way that improves patient care. Benefits of meaningful use of EHR include:
- Know more about patients - Information in the EHR such as patient medication lists can be used to coordinate and improve the quality of patient care.
- Make better decisions - With more information and clinical guidelines available for clinical decision support, healthcare professionals will have the information they need regarding treatments and conditions. Information ranging from pediatric dose calculations to duplicate therapy alerts help clinicians make better decisions.
- Save money - EHR adoption requires an initial investment of time and money but clinicians who have implemented EHR systems have reported significant time savings, workflow efficiencies as well as receiving government incentives.
EHR vendors developing clinical decision support applications must include dosage range checking into their ePrescribing systems. These clinical guidelines are particularly important for dosing in pediatric populations.
Medication ePrescribing involves the appropriate selection of an agent, a route of administration, and definition of a dosing strategy. For most medications, dosing is adjusted to specific demographics such as age and weight. In some instances, dosing may differ from the general range for treatment of a specific condition. Additional parameters associated with dosing include major organ function (renal / hepatic) and / or the use of dialysis.
Dosages are typically ordered by an amount and a schedule for administration. In some cases, this is also limited to a defined duration (ex. 10 mg once daily for 10 days). In order to maximize the safety of drug dosing, it is useful to evaluate the ordered dose relative to typical ranges used in patients with similar characteristics. For this reason, dose range checking data are particularly important in many applications.
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