New solution marks industry turning-point by overcoming auditing, certification, and technology cost barriers to EPCS integration for all DrFirst vendor partners
ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- After two years of intensive work, DrFirst announced today that it has created EPCS Gold™, a turnkey solution that eliminates the challenges faced by HIT vendors to implement e-prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS) within their applications. This new solution significantly reduces technology development, auditing, and certification costs otherwise required for vendors to legally offer EPCS to their clients. EPCS Gold™ is currently available only to DrFirst’s 160+ “Open Borders” partners. Beginning in May, DrFirst and its partners will launch electronic prescribing of controlled substances to their physicians and authorized prescribers nationwide.
Although the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) released the final rule on EPCS in June 2010, to date no HIT vendor has begun offering the ability to e-prescribe controlled substances to their clients. This is primarily due to the difficulty of meeting the DEA requirements, the significant costs, and the struggle to develop two-factor authentication solutions that efficiently address the varying needs of providers.
DrFirst played a leading role in an extensive EPCS pilot study in Massachusetts, which resulted in a fully operational EPCS system used today in Berkshire County, MA, under the auspices of the Massachusetts Department of Health, funded by a grant from AHRQ, and under a waiver from the DEA. DrFirst’s new EPCS Gold™ solution allows application vendors to benefit from the experience gained during its pilot by providing a quick and inexpensive means for vendors to equip doctors with the ability to e-prescribe controlled substances without forcing their providers into a one-size-fits-all solution.
“At last e-prescribing will be accessible to all providers, including a previously under-served market of dentists, pain management physicians, surgeons, and other practitioners who prescribe a greater proportion of controlled substances,” said Peter N. Kaufman, Chief Medical Officer of DrFirst. “These providers will benefit from the extra security measures that EPCS Gold™ offers.”
DrFirst’s Open Borders partners will have immediate access to the new technology. In preparation for launch in May, DrFirst will provide API and other technical specifications to its current 160+ “Open Borders” EHR partners. Currently, participation in the program will be limited to DrFirst and partner clients.
“We dedicated considerable resources to developing our new EPCS Gold™ solution,” said G. Cameron Deemer, President of DrFirst. “Our goal is to work cooperatively with all of our partners to remove this final barrier that has held many physicians back from wide-spread adoption of e-prescribing.”
Audit-proof e-prescribing. DrFirst’s certified EPCS Gold™ solution strictly conforms to DEA requirements, which means vendors can confidently and swiftly integrate EPCS with their systems without the hassle and cost of going through an audit process that averages well over $100,000, and which may otherwise be required “per site.”
Flexibility is the key . DrFirst’s EPCS Gold™ solution resolves the challenge of dealing with health care providers’ various technology and infrastructure availability and preferences. The solution offers a range of hard and soft identity verification tokens and other security measures.
DrFirst did not cut corners in creating a quality EPCS platform. The service features intuitive administrative tools for application vendors, secure data backup and redundancy, extensive reporting options, and around-the-clock support.
As a result of the DrFirst EPCS service, the cost of developing for EPCS capabilities is no longer prohibitive for application vendors. For details about EPCS Gold™ and becoming a DrFirst Open Borders partner, contact us at [email protected].
About DrFirst
Founded in 2000, DrFirst creates innovative services targeted to physicians in both ambulatory and acute care environments. DrFirst solutions are widely integrated with over 160 health information technology systems through its "Open Borders" program. The company counts among its client base not only physician practices, but also major health plans, health systems, hospitals and EHR vendors. DrFirst partners with Surescripts for pharmacy connectivity, health plan information, and patient medication history, and has been a Surescripts Gold Solution Provider for four consecutive years with its award-winning Rcopia electronic prescription management system. DrFirst's Rcopia-MU (Certification # 30000001T0GKEAC) Version 3, is compliant and certified as an EHR Module by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable eligible provider certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. DrFirst is partnered with Wellcentive to offer a complete modular solution for Meaningful Use. DrFirst Rcopia has also received CCHIT eRx certification for 2011 and 2012.
For more DrFirst news, visit us at http://blog.drfirst.com/ or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/drfirst. Learn more about Rcopia-MU with our video at: www.youtube.com/drfirst.
CONTACT:
DrFirst
Irene Froehlich, 240-671-3320
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America Maryland
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Data Management Hardware Internet Networks Software Security Practice Management Health Hospitals Pharmaceutical Other Health General Health
MEDIA:
| Logo |