ST. PAUL, Minn., July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The impact of providing patient eligibility, formulary and medication history information to physicians at the point of care is being realized across the United States as reports pour in from physicians utilizing healthcare technology applications that have been certified through RxHub. In the first six months of 2006, RxHub delivered over 2.3 million patient medication history responses to physicians at the point of care, adding to over 4 million medication histories delivered since RxHub started providing this service in 2002.

Physicians report that receiving patient specific information at the point of care is improving workflow efficiencies and healthcare delivery, reducing costs, and improving patient safety across the United States. The following reports were provided by physicians utilizing ePrescribing applications certified by RxHub.

National Infrastructure Demonstrated A physician at Hendry Regional Medical Center in Florida reports that a man was presented to the Emergency Department with trauma from a fall off a roof. Even though the man was from Pennsylvania, the Florida ED Physician was able to quickly locate and review this patient's medication history through her certified RxHub technology partner, Healthcare Systems. Drug Duplication Identified The same physician also reports that a 72 year old female was brought to the Emergency Department with a head injury resulting from a fall. Both the patient and her family had given the triage nurse the patient's medication history information. However, when the triage nurse reviewed the medication history provided electronically through RxHub, it was identified that the patient had been taking both the brand and generic of a prescribed medication. Having the ability to compare patient medication history, provided electronically at the point of care, the physician was able to diagnose the patient with duplicative therapy and resolve the issue. The physician stated this program is absolutely remarkable. Drug Interaction Identified Dr. William Land, M.D. of California reports that since using the ePrescribing technology provided by RxNT, he finds it invaluable to his practice. "Prescription writing is easy because patient information and medication history are available immediately," stated Dr. Land. The system cross references the medications and identifies when there is a medication interaction before sending the prescription. The solution is also portable, enabling secured prescribing anywhere in the world. "Overall, ePrescribing pays for itself in convenience and time savings." Patient Care Improved Dr. J. Marc Overhage, M.D., Ph.D. of Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis reports that the month following Hurricane Katrina, the number of patients entering some emergency departments in Indianapolis from Louisiana and Mississippi increased 6000% and 500% respectively. "In the first seven months that the system was in place, medication history requests from Indianapolis Emergency Departments to RxHub included patients from 49 states. Given the rapid flight of these survivors, it is highly unlikely that many brought with them accurate medication history information. But with a national electronic medication record, clinicians in Indianapolis were able to obtain medication histories even if a patient's paper record was permanently destroyed. Indianapolis physicians believe that this level of insight improved patient care for those fleeing the hurricane ravaged areas of the South," stated Dr. Overhage. Patient Safety Improved Electronic prescribing improves patient care and safety as evidenced by a recent highly publicized drug recall. Upon receiving notice about an immediate drug recall, Dr. Salvatore Volpe, a physician practicing in Staten Island, N.Y. used his e-prescribing application, PocketScript, to search for patients who had been prescribed the medication in the past. By accessing patient medication history through the application in less than a minute, the physicians and staff found every patient that needed to be notified without combing through a single chart. Physicians notified their patients of the recall and identified an alternative prescription to issue in its place. "Having access to this data allowed us to identify those patients at risk, and contact them immediately to change their prescription to a safer alternative," said Dr. Salvatore. "This convenient tool is evidence of the value of medical office automation in improving patient safety and improving medical practice efficiency." Efficiency Gained Dr. Alice Tanner, M.D. of Maryland reports that ePrescribing is much easier for patients who are on chronic medications. One child in her practice is on ten medications and the child requires new prescriptions every 30 days because she's on medical assistance. For her alone, it is worth it. "ePrescribing is much easier, more accurate, and more convenient for patients," stated Dr. Tanner. Dr. Tanner uses the DrFirst Rcopia ePrescribing solution sponsored by CareFirst.

An additional benefit of providing patient specific eligibility and medication history information at the point of care can also help hospitals and other healthcare delivery organizations and physician practices become compliant with emerging Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) medication reconciliation requirements. JP Little, Chief Operating Officer at RxHub states, "Since the JCAHO requirement went into effect on 1/1/06, the number of medication history transactions delivered to clinicians has more than doubled to over 500,000 per month. The effects of providing patient specific ePrescribing information at the point of care in addition to the ability of electronically routing prescriptions to pharmacy networks is being realized by physicians and patients and is raising the bar within the industry."

About RxHub LLC

RxHub provides the necessary clinical decision support information including patient eligibility, formulary, and medication history at the point- of-care through certified, secured networks and electronically routes prescriptions to the patient's choice of retail and mail order pharmacies. The mission of RxHub is to partner with all stakeholders in the prescribing industry to improve patient safety, increase workflow efficiency and reduce the overall cost of health care delivery. RxHub is headquartered in St. Paul, MN. For more information, please visit http://www.rxhub.net/ .

CONTACT: Chris Van Horrick of RxHub, LLC, +1-651-855-3078,
Chris.vanhorrick@rxhub.net

Web site: http://www.rxhub.net/