Health IT, Hospitals, Patient Engagement, Pharma, Startups

MediSafe partnership integrates medication adherence tools with EHRs

The $290 billion costs associated with poor medication adherence has led to some interesting collaborations […]

The $290 billion costs associated with poor medication adherence has led to some interesting collaborations between pharmaceutical companies and providers to boost patient engagement, such as Merck and Geisinger Health System, payers and digital health startups. It’s also spurred partnerships between startups such as MediSafe’s collaboration with Wealth Taxi to create more intelligent pill bottle options for customers. In its latest partnership, Medisafe is working with a health information exchange vendor recently acquired by a large health IT company. A press release from Medisafe released yesterday includes a quote from Ziv Ofek, CTO and head of innovation of dbMotion, recently acquired by AllScripts. Medisafe said that it does not have a partnership with either company.

MediSafe developed an API that makes it possible to integrate its medication adherence tools with electronic health records.

Here’s how it works. Doctors and nurse practitioners use it to populate prescription information and regimens through their hospitals or their practice’s EHR platform. That information is transferred to MediSafe’s app securely so the relevant information can be documented correctly by medical professionals.

Patients receive a message to download the app. It includes prescription details and directions they would have discussed with their healthcare professionals. By integrating the app into EHR systems, providers can help reduce medication adherence problems that can snowball and cause deteriorating health and increased healthcare costs.

One of the most interesting aspects of the collaboration is that physicians can prescribe into an app, and get access to their patients’ medication habits, assuming the patient OKs it.

Medisafe will be offering demos at the HIMSS conference in Orlando next week.

The new partnership offers a useful way to help providers comply with Meaningful Use Stage 2 outlined in the HITECH Act, which requires providers to demonstrate more rigorous health information exchange.

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