Lewis County Health System (Lowville, NY) recently implemented MEDITECH Expanse’s Continuing Care Medication Management functionality to improve patient safety and create efficiencies within its post-acute care workflows. Implementation of the medication management functionality has also led to cost savings for the healthcare organization.
Lewis County has streamlined its medication ordering processes as it transitions patients to its Residential Health Care Facility, adding a new level of safety and efficiency. By using the Continuing Care Medication Management tools — within workflows they are already familiar with — providers can maintain a consistent list of medications throughout care settings and communicate with outside pharmacies.
Designed to improve the medication ordering process for providers in the acute care, emergency department, and ambulatory environments, the enhanced care coordination and communication also improve the patient experience as they move between settings. Before this, the health system used paper processes and an outside vendor to order medications for their long-term care residents. By minimizing the tasks associated with traditional paper processes such as faxing and phone calls, care teams can more efficiently keep the next steps in the patient’s care moving in the right direction.
Staff appreciate the new workflows and organization-wide communication. "I no longer have to walk all over the floors like a postman delivering papers,” said Lewis County Health PA-C Ibrahim Al-Bassiony.
As part of the Continuing Care Medication Management toolset, electronic ordering and reconciliation workflows within the One Med List enable providers to quickly and safely manage medications at all times, including when a resident transitions from a continuing care facility to an ambulatory clinic, acute setting, or emergency department and then back to the post-acute setting.
With the Continuing Care e-Prescribing feature within the toolset, providers can quickly and easily enter medication orders for administration at the residential facility and transmit them to the appropriate outside pharmacy using a certified e-prescribing solution.
All of the patient’s medication changes are also reflected on the resident’s home medication list, including those prescriptions ordered upon check-out or discharge. Further enhancing patient safety, the system’s interaction checking against continuing care medications takes place within all settings.
Implementing the Continuing Care Medication Management functionality has also led to substantial savings for Lewis County, as it replaced the previously outsourced medication ordering workflow.
“We no longer need to use an outside vendor for medication ordering, which saves us $5,000 per month,” said Lewis County Residential Health Care Facility administrator Debra Wurz. “This significant cost saving is a testament to our commitment to efficiency and patient care.”
The cost and time savings allow Wurz to reallocate resources as needed, a tangible result of the health system’s collective efforts.
Lewis County looks forward to further leveraging its MEDITECH Expanse platform to improve patient and provider processes.
