CARROLLTON, Ga. — Walgreen Co. is implementing an electronic health record (EHR) solution from Greenway Medical Technologies Inc. that’s expected to better integrate the health care services that the drug chain offers in its stores.
Greenway said Wednesday that its EHR system is now in more than 200 Walgreens drug stores. Plans call for the solution to be deployed to all of the chain’s more than 7,900 stores by the end of next summer.
Walgreens has leveraged the Greenway EHR platform in developing its WellHealth EHR, part of the chain’s HealthCloud initiative that supports the transformation of its drug stores into "health and daily living" destinations.
With the WellHealth EHR, Walgreens pharmacy staff can get a single view of a patient’s immunization and health testing history and prescription profile. Once the implementation of the EHR solution is finished, pharmacy staff will have up-to-date patient immunization and health testing information combined with pharmacy information, regardless of the Walgreens location where a patient received the service.
The EHR also enables customers to schedule appointments and supports real-time medical billing, according to Greenway.
"With a view into a customer’s prescription, immunization and health testing record, our pharmacy staff can provide additional recommendations such as whether the customer is due for a specific immunization," Tim Theriault, senior vice president and chief information officer at Walgreens, said in a statement. "Greenway continues to deliver health information technology platforms that fit the innovative health care delivery models we are rolling out to consumer and employer markets. The deployment of EHR technology advances our pharmacy staff’s ability to provide integrated and comprehensive health care services in the communities where people live and work."
Greenway noted that its relationship with Walgreens began in 2010 with the rollout of its PrimeSUITE integrated EHR, practice management and interoperability solution in the drug chain’s workplace health centers. The work-site centers offer primary and acute care and are managed by Take Care Health Systems, a Walgreens subsidiary.
"The deployment of EHR solutions supporting Walgreens’ community pharmacy, health and wellness initiatives is another milestone in our mutual goal of improving population health," stated Tee Green, president and chief executive officer of Greenway. "Providing valuable and far-reaching health care services emphasizing preventive medicine is paramount as patients increasingly become consumers of accessible and affordable care."
Greenway added that the functionality of WellHealth EHR is scalable and can support more pharmacy, health and wellness services down the road, including integration with electronic prescribing and data exchange that tracks patients throughout the care process.
