Manatt Health Solutions & Safety Net Institute
The adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) is a critical patient safety initiative that poses significant challenges for hospitals, not the least of which is designing interventions that will demonstrate a return on investment. Electronic prescribing is a good place to start, with many aspects of an early EHR program woven into the process, and efficiencies to be gained with the reduction of re-work associated with managing new prescriptions and refills. Of paramount importance is the goal to reduce medication errors with the elimination of handwritten prescriptions and by the use of decision support functions within the program.
Lumetra Healthcare Solutions was the perfect partner for Manatt Health Solutions and the Safety Net Institute, with our demonstrated expertise in Health Information Technology (HIT), clinical quality improvement, and analysis. In this two-year project to help four county hospital-based clinics in California implement electronic prescribing programs, Lumetra Healthcare Solutions consultants customized the approach for each provider by flowcharting the current state of their operations and identifying areas for maximum impact in the electronic solution.
With analysis an important aspect of this project so as to demonstrate clinical quality improvement (reduction of medication errors), efficiency (reduced time spent) and to build in sustainability, our consultants designed process and outcome measures to demonstrate success. With this project still underway, two of the four clinics have completed implementation and have demonstrated improved efficiency and quality in prescribing and providing medication to their patients, and the others continue to progress in collaboration with their peers.
