LOUISVILLE, Ky., Dec. 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Appriss Inc., a leading technology provider for risk assessment and analytics in public safety and healthcare, announced that is has signed an agreement with the state of Ohio to enhance the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS) to facilitate easy integration of opioid prescription histories into electronic health records (EHRs) and pharmacy dispensing systems across the state. The agreement, first announced by Ohio Governor John Kasich on October 26, 2015, will provide opioid prescription histories in real-time, at the point-of-care. This increased accessibility is expected to increase prescription monitoring data usage to improve patient safety, and combat prescription drug abuse and diversion. The program will ultimately connect every clinic, hospital and pharmacy in Ohio to OARRS data.
OARRS was established in 2006 and serves as the state's prescription drug monitoring program (PMP) to address the growing misuse and diversion of prescription drugs. PMPs, such as OARRS, collect information on all outpatient prescriptions for controlled substances.
PMP Gateway is a secure integration technology that provides a variety of options for health IT systems to integrate PMP data into physician and pharmacist workflows. Physicians and pharmacists currently log into separate websites to retrieve a patient's opioid prescriptions and then cross-reference this data with a patient's health information in other systems. The PMP Gateway integration provides instant access to the patient's data within the electronic health records and pharmacy dispensing system.
The benefits of EHR integration and interoperability have long been recognized by Brandeis University's PDMP Center of Excellence (COE). The September 2012 Guidance of PDMP Best Practices recognizes that "integrating PDMP data retrieval with health information exchanges (HIE), electronic health records (EHR), and pharmacy dispensing systems should help reduce the time and effort needed for prescribers and their staff and for pharmacists to access a patient's prescription history." (http://www.pdmpexcellence.org/). The report further details that integration will maximize both the number of users (prescribers and dispensers) receiving the information and the utility for each of those users.
"Ohio has taken a major step in the fight against prescription drug abuse and misuse," said Krishnan Sastry, Executive Vice President of Appriss. "Appriss is honored to partner with the state to bring frictionless access to critical patient data at the point of care."
The statewide integration agreement is the first of its kind in the US.
About Appriss
Appriss provides data-driven solutions to fulfill our mission of keeping communities safe and informed. Partnering with public safety, healthcare, and leading private and public companies, Appriss delivers solutions that prevent fraud, mitigate risk, fight crime, ensure compliance, increase public safety and save lives. Appriss' solutions are always backed by excellent customer support with technical agents in the US that are available to help 24x7x365.
For more information, visit www.appriss.com (http://www.appriss.com).