Boise, ID and Louisville, KY, June 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boise, ID and Louisville, KY – June 24, 2020 —The Idaho Board of Pharmacy announced their statewide initiative to integrate Idaho Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (ID PDMP) data into approved electronic health record (EHR) and pharmacy systems throughout the state, using Appriss Health’s PMP Gateway solution.
PMP Gateway is the nation’s leading managed service platform enabling the integration of PDMP information within real-time care team workflow to help providers and pharmacists make more informed clinical decisions at the point of care.
The statewide integration of PDMP data into EHRs and pharmacy systems at the point of care increases the ease of access and use of prescription information to help healthcare providers make critical clinical decisions, including the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances, as well as patient care and safety. Prior to this integration initiative, Idaho prescribers and pharmacists had to log in to a separate system to query patient information, which took important time away from patient care. Now, healthcare providers and pharmacists will have the ability to initiate a patient query through an EHR or pharmacy system. The query will return the patient’s controlled substance prescription records directly within the clinical workflow inside the EHR.
Teresa Anderson, Idaho’s Prescription Monitoring Program Information Coordinator, said the Idaho Board of Pharmacy is covering the license fees associated with the integration service to connect providers’ EHR and pharmacists to PMP Gateway to ensure broad adoption, and to help providers with state mandates and policies regarding the prescribing of controlled substances.
“Access to prescription drug monitoring data at the point of care enhances providers’ clinical decision support, patient engagement, and care coordination,” said Anderson. “By partnering with Appriss Health to make integration available across the state, we are delivering an invaluable tool to the state’s prescribers and pharmacists and addressing substance use disorder and overdose head on.”
“PMP Gateway integration has enhanced our pharmacists’ ability to complete medication history review in a more efficient manner using existing workflow,” said Dorothy Maziarz, PharmD, Pharmacy Regulatory Systems and Affairs Manager with Walgreens. “Streamlining this process helps pharmacists support safe prescription management for patients, allows more time for meaningful patient interactions, and demonstrates care for our communities in addressing the larger issues around the opioid crisis.”
Appriss Health has delivered PDMP services for the Idaho Board of Pharmacy since 2014. The system managed 2.88 million controlled substance prescriptions in 2019 and currently has more than 15,250 users. Through the Idaho Board of Pharmacy’s efforts to improve access to the PDMP, utilization has increased more than 70% each year for the past two years.
Appriss Health has developed and widely-deployed its infrastructure to enable healthcare entities to rapidly deliver integrations across the U.S. More than 130 of the nation’s largest EHR systems and nearly every pharmacy management system and pharmacy chain have integrated PDMP information directly into their clinical workflow via PMP Gateway. Twenty-five states, including Idaho, have aligned with Appriss Health to sponsor statewide adoption of PDMP integrations for prescribers and pharmacists. More than 630,000 prescribers and pharmacists at nearly 92,000 facilities across the U.S. access PDMP data via PMP Gateway.
“We are proud to continue to support Idaho, and its prescribers and pharmacists, in maximizing the state’s PDMP effectiveness in the fight against the opioid epidemic,” said Rob Cohen, President, Appriss Health. “The addition of PMP Gateway enhances the state’s aggressive, multi-pronged approach to curbing the opioid crisis.”
About Appriss Health
Appriss Health provides the nation’s most comprehensive platform for opioid stewardship and the early identification, prevention, and management of substance use disorder (SUD). We provide state government agencies with the most advanced repository of controlled substance dispensing data and deliver real-time clinical decision support, critical insights, and interventions to physicians, pharmacists, and care team members. Our solutions help prescribers and dispensers assess and manage clinical risk by providing access to critical information at the point of care for hundreds of millions of patient encounters each year. Appriss Health provides the platform for PDMPs and access to non-PDMP data, analytics, tools, and resources from PDMPs, across state lines, and integrated within care team workflows. Sharing #knowledgeforgood, our solutions are improving patient safety and outcomes. For more information, please visit www.apprisshealth.com.
About Idaho PDMP
Idaho’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, or PDMP, is a database of all Schedule II - V controlled substances dispensed in the state of Idaho or shipped from a mail-service pharmacy to an Idaho resident. The PDMP is a tool providers can use to prevent and intervene against misuse and/or diversion of controlled substance medications. The database is a free online service to assist practitioners and pharmacists in providing better care to their patients. Practitioners and pharmacists are encouraged to access the database for their existing patients, and prior to prescribing, or dispensing, controlled substances to new patients. These patient profiles and the monthly Unsolicited Reports sent by the Board enhance the ability of providers to coordinate care and make more informed prescribing decisions.