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Opioid Prescription Intelligence 2019
Providers Realizing Improved Opioid-Prescribing Outcomes
Author
Jackson Tate
Author
Alex McIntosh
Opioid prescription intelligence solutions combat the challenge of accessing data from prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) by pulling this crucial information into the EMR workflow. Hospitals and practices are seeing great success with these solutions—organizations consistently report they can better identify opiate seekers, reduce dangerous prescription mismatches, improve prescribing habits, and advance their opioid-stewardship strategies. No matter the solution organizations choose or the details of their opioid-stewardship strategy, prescription intelligence solutions can benefit patients.
All Prescription-Intelligence
Vendors High Performing
PastRx is the highest-scoring fully rated vendor in this report; customers praise the solution for preemptively pulling PDMP data and inserting it directly into the patient chart so it is ready to view when physicians open the EMR. Several organizations report PastRx repeatedly goes the extra mile to meet customers’ expectations. AffirmHealth customers, who are primarily pain-management practices in Tennessee, report achieving positive outcomes and high value; respondents say the solution is cost effective and helps them be clinically efficient by reducing the burden of manually pulling PDMP reports. Collective Medical Technologies, validated solely in ED environments, receives praise for making PDMP data quickly available within the ED workflow, helping users identify patients at risk for opioid-use disorder. DrFirst and Appriss Health have also successfully helped organizations improve opioid prescribing practices by sharing vital information at the point of care.
PastRx, Appriss Health Customers See Highest Impact on Prescribing Practices
PastRx helps physicians correctly identify at-risk patients by displaying within the physician workflow a clear, detailed history of opioid prescriptions, dosages, and fill times. Organizations using Appriss Health’s NarxScores find the color-coded risk assessments valuable; if needed, physicians can drill down into risk scores and access detailed reports on patients’ current and prior prescriptions. DrFirst customers say RcopiaAC is easy to use and helps users make more informed prescribing decisions by generating detailed reports on prescribing practices. Some have achieved efficiency gains by integrating patients’ prescription histories into the EMR reports. While Collective Medical Technologies has the lowest impact ratings among measured vendors, almost all respondents report a positive impact of some kind, and many feel the product helps improve prescribing habits by giving physicians prescription histories at the point of care. The limited number of interviewed AffirmHealth customers praise the solution’s ability to help them stay compliant with opioid-prescription regulations and identify mismatched prescriptions that could negatively affect a patient’s health.
Satisfaction with Integration High; Approaches Vary
How data is passed to physicians varies by vendor. PastRx customers are very satisfied with the various available methods to get PDMP data in front of physicians. Organizations have successfully integrated findings into the EMR—pop-up alerts identify high-risk patients, and users can access detailed report data in a separate tab or through a single sign-on link. Appriss Health’s NarxCare solution generates risk scores within patient charts. Many customers have EMR integration; a number say physicians must navigate away from the EMR through a single sign-on link to check more detailed reports. Collective Medical Technologies customers who use Epic have data integrated in the EMR. For those who don’t, the vendor relies heavily on paper faxes or automatically generated printouts that include data from the PDMP and the EDie system database; these reports are inserted into patient charts upon ED check-in. While some customers have had success with EMR or tracking-board integration, most report that true integration is lacking, though they are still generally satisfied with the integration they have.
Due to Indirect Customer Relationships, Appriss Health & DrFirst Fall Behind in Strategic Guidance
Appriss Health primarily interacts with customers via the state PDMP, and customers generally feel they don’t get desired guidance from Appriss around crafting an opioid-stewardship strategy. Multiple respondents say the vendor is focused on providing technology and not on sharing best practices or helping organizations learn how to use the solution effectively. Those using DrFirst (who works mostly through the EMR vendor) report communication is lacking at times, leading customers to feel that DrFirst isn’t focused on guiding customers and helping them optimize their use of the solution.
PastRx customers looking for guidance appreciate the vendor’s proactive communication, saying PastRx goes
“above and beyond” in helping with opioid-stewardship strategies by making system adjustments and implementing customizations. Most Collective Medical Technologies respondents rate the vendor high for guidance and
case-management support, describing the vendor as “endlessly involved,” “always open for questions,” and
“very supportive.” The few who are dissatisfied experience trouble with state-PDMP integration, low solution adoption by other organizations in their area (important for strong cross-organization integration), and a lack of proactive guidance.
Writer
Amanda Wind Smith
Designer
Natalie Jamison
Project Manager
Sydney Toomer
This material is copyrighted. Any organization gaining unauthorized access to this report will be liable to compensate KLAS for the full retail price. Please see the KLAS DATA USE POLICY for information regarding use of this report. © 2024 KLAS Research, LLC. All Rights Reserved. NOTE: Performance scores may change significantly when including newly interviewed provider organizations, especially when added to a smaller sample size like in emerging markets with a small number of live clients. The findings presented are not meant to be conclusive data for an entire client base.