A Rockville company and a Virginia hospital chain have partnered to make patients’ prescription information more accessible to hospitals.
Warrenton-based Fauquier Health Systems has begun a pilot program with DrFirst Inc., which gives hospital employees instant access to a patient’s current prescription medication.
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It is the first time a hospital has been able to remotely access the information, though some private practices already can do so, according to Fauquier spokeswoman Gayla Vanden Bosche.
“What it means is that we have real data on people’s medications and we don’t have to just look at what they’re telling us; it gives us a second check,” Vanden Bosche said, adding that the information does not replace a traditional patient interview.
The new system has been particularly helpful in tracking the dosage of patients’ drugs, because it is often something they don’t recall offhand, said Donna Staton, Fauquier’s chief information officer.
Doctors will also be able to write electronic prescriptions using the system. The record developed during a patient’s stay will be electronically accessible by the individual’s regular physicians as well.
The Institute of Medicine issued a study in July of last year which estimated that preventable medical errors related to prescriptions cost about $1.3 billion and harm more than 1.5 million patients annually.
“There is a national crisis in hospital-based medication errors,” Staton said. “We feel this is an opportunity to lead the nation in addressing this issue.”
