Table of Contents
ARLINGTON, Va. — Surescripts is expanding to support population health management with its Medication History for Panel Management service.
The health information network said Wednesday that the service — for health systems, accountable care organizations (ACOs) and analytics vendors — provides one connection robust population health management data from 14 pharmacies, with 28,000 store locations nationwide, as well as from two pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
Companies connected to the service include Walgreens, Rite Aid, Albertsons Cos. (whose store banners include Albertsons, Acme Markets, Jewel-Osco, Safeway and Vons), Thrifty White Pharmacy, BestRx, KeyCentrix, Lagniappe, PioneerRX, QS/1, Rx30 and US Script.
“As a participant in Surescripts’ Panel Management solution, we can enable provider access to high-quality and secure medication data to drive population health,” Catherine Macpherson, vice president of adherence innovation at Walgreens, said in a statement. “Being able to capture an accurate, complete and timely view of patients’ medication history is essential to driving positive health outcomes.”
Medication History for Panel Management is designed to arm providers with updated, multisourced medication data to manage population health initiatives, improve patient care, identify care gaps, monitor adherence and risk-triage patient populations via a single connection to the Surescripts network, which links to doctor’s offices, hospitals, pharmacies and health plans.
PBM and pharmacy data is refreshed nightly and is no more than 24-36 hours old, and medication history data is formatted and transmitted in an XML file based on NCPDP standards, according to Surescripts. Data is integrated directly into the electronic health record’s population health management module, improving clinical decision making
“With the shift to value-based reimbursement models, every provider across the health care system needs better information to effectively manage the health of patient populations,” stated Tom Skelton, chief executive officer of Surescripts. “Our panel management service provides the market’s most complete view of patients’ medication information, allowing greater visibility into their overall health and ultimately improving the quality of care for patients nationwide.”
Surescripts noted that managing population health has become a priority for care providers, who have sharpened their focus on improving care quality while reducing costs with the shift toward value-based payments. Missing or low-quality data can negatively impact patient care and safety and quality ratings, leading to potential reimbursement penalties for health systems and ACOs, the company said.
“Outcomes-based reimbursement models are becoming more relevant across health care. The foundation of successful population health is to be empowered to manage chronic disease. As this continues, it is increasingly important to have access to high-quality and timely information on our patients,” explained Michael Mirro, senior vice president and chief academic research officer at Parkview Health. “Surescripts Medication History for Panel Management allows us to more effectively manage our patients and transition toward a more proactive care model. This platform will allow our system to identify medication noncompliance early and then intervene. Better data allows us to identify at-risk patients before a readmission, or even an initial admission can occur.”
The Medication History for Panel Management service meets the demands of the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which will govern reimbursement for all office-based treatment of Medicare patients, including the Advancing Care Initiative that aims to incentivize improvements in information to guide better decision-making by providers, Surescripts added.
Earlier this year, Surescripts activated its National Record Locator Service, an interoperable platform that enables health providers to locate and exchange patient records stored in any care location nationwide.
