DrFirst’s Patient Advisor ePA+ Service to deploy to 300 EMR Systems Beginning October 28th
Rockville, MD, October 17, 2014
DrFirst, a leading provider of healthcare IT solutions, announced today that its new electronic prior authorization (ePA) service, Patient Advisor ePA+SM, will begin rolling-out to providers on October 28th. Using the service, prescribers and their staff will be able to initiate, submit and complete prior authorizations electronically, and will be able to respond to prior authorizations that are initiated from pharmacies after a claim rejection, from within their eRx/EMR workflow. The release of Patient Advisor ePA+ marks the first live prior authorization solution that is fully integrated within the e-prescribing process. The service will encompass multiple prior authorization sources, beginning with CoverMyMeds, the industry leader in automating prior authorization processes for prescription drugs.
Prior authorization (PA) is the formulary management process requiring insurance carrier pre-approval for certain prescribed medications. Traditional PA – including paper forms, faxes and phone calls – is exceptionally time-consuming for medical practices, amounting to more than 20 hours per week per physician of staff time to support PA requirements.
The Patient Advisor ePA+ service will deploy to 150 of DrFirst’s more than 300 EMR, EHR and HIS system partners, as well as to all users of DrFirst’s Rcopia® and RcopiaMUSM stand-alone e-prescribing platforms. In December, DrFirst will continue deployment of Patient Advisor ePA+ to the balance of its partner EMR, EHR and HIS systems. This deployment schedule is designed to enable the availability and adoption of ePA capabilities that are truly meaningful to doctors and medical staff nationwide, and with no cost to their practices.
CoverMyMeds functionality has been fully integrated within DrFirst’s Patient AdvisorSM medication adherence and clinical content platform. As a result of functionality provided by CoverMyMeds, Patient Advisor ePA+ will also be the first and only fully integrated ePA solution supporting all plans and all medications. Patient Advisor is standard functionality within DrFirst’s e-prescribing technology, but can also be integrated directly within the workflows of third-party EMRs.
“Our intent with Patient Advisor ePA+ is to provide a full-spectrum, multi-source, easily integrated ePA solution to all EMR, EHR and HIS vendors,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. “Our leadership in other medication management areas, such as controlled-substance e-prescribing (EPCS), serves as a model for our ability to bring high-value technology to EMR systems; in the case of ePA, and with an exceptional partner like CoverMyMeds as the cornerstone of our service, we will similarly and rapidly make this transformative functionality available to providers.”
“CoverMyMeds offers an all-drug, all-payer prior authorization solution,” said Matt Scantland, co-founder of CoverMyMeds. “Our existing integrations with more than 45,000 pharmacy locations and 72% of payers makes us the most connected PA provider in the industry and we anticipate providers using Patient Advisor ePA+ will be able to reduce the amount of time required to process prior authorizations by as much as 70%.”
DrFirst will additionally integrate other ePA services into Patient Advisor ePA+, including Surescripts CompletEPA as well as connections with individual payers, PBMs and other multi-payer connections, in order to provide the most comprehensive selection of ePA sources to EHR and HIS system vendors nationwide.
About DrFirst
DrFirst pioneers technology solutions that inform the doctor-patient point of encounter, optimizing provider access to patient information, enhancing the doctor’s clinical view of the patient, and improving care delivery and clinical outcomes. Our growth is driven by a commitment to innovation, security and reliability across a wide array of services, including Medication Management, Medication Adherence, and Secure Care Coordination and Collaboration. We are proud of our track record of service to more than 45,000 providers, 300 EMR/EHR/HIS system vendors, and 650 hospitals and other acute care facilities. For more information please visit www.drfirst.com.
