Surescripts and Rite Aid Improve Coordination of Patient Care by Delivering Electronic Immunization Records to Healthcare Providers
Thursday, December 6, 2012
SURESCRIPTS AND RITE AID IMPROVE COORDINATION OF PATIENT CARE BY DELIVERING ELECTRONIC IMMUNIZATION RECORDS TO HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS
The Surescripts Network for Clinical Interoperability Enhances Communication Between Rite Aid Pharmacists and Healthcare Providers
ARLINGTON, Va. and CAMP HILL, Pa. - December 6, 2012 - Surescripts and Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD), one of the nation's leading drugstore chains, announced today that Rite Aid will leverage The Surescripts Network for Clinical Interoperability™ to electronically deliver patient immunization notifications directly to healthcare providers. The timely electronic delivery of immunization notifications from pharmacy to healthcare providers will help significantly improve coordination of care.
As care is increasingly delivered across a diverse set of care partners, including pharmacies, maintaining up-to-date immunization records can be challenging. The Surescripts Network for Clinical Interoperability provides a new way to improve direct delivery of immunizations between pharmacy and care providers, with guaranteed delivery assurance, through the Surescripts® Physician Notification Letter (PNL) for Immunizations. The PNL provides Rite Aid pharmacies with the ability to deliver immunization records in an efficient, coordinated and secure way.
In the coming weeks, through The Surescripts Network for Clinical Interoperability, all of the more than 4,600 Rite Aid pharmacies will be able to send a notification of a patient's immunizations to the patient's healthcare provider in whatever form the provider is able to best receive it, including electronically or via fax or mail. Pharmacies and healthcare providers also will have a more coordinated way to share updates on delivered care and documentation related to immunization. Timely notification is extremely valuable, because when healthcare providers have more complete histories, they can have more thorough healthcare conversations with their patients, helping improve safety and health outcomes.
"Pharmacists continue to play a critical role on a patient's healthcare team. At Surescripts, we are committed to supporting and enhancing the delivery of valuable clinical care information directly to care providers. By way of the Surescripts network, it will be easier for Rite Aid pharmacists to provide much needed care delivery information, such as immunizations, to other members of a patient's healthcare team," said Harry Totonis, president and CEO of Surescripts. "The Physician Notification Letter for Immunizations is yet another step forward in our mission to enable more efficient care coordination and improved patient safety."
"Today's patients are taking on a greater role in their health and are putting more of a focus on preventative care than ever before," said Dan Miller, senior vice president of Pharmacy Operations for Rite Aid. "Immunizations are an important part of preventative care and that's why we've trained all Rite Aid pharmacists to be able to provide immunizations as allowed by the state. By working with Surescripts, we can improve and enhance the way we communicate with other healthcare providers on our immunization services, ultimately leading to improved patient care and health outcomes."
In the near future, Rite Aid
pharmacies will also be able to use the Surescripts network to send
immunization reports to state and regional public health registries
where there is a mandatory or voluntary reporting
requirement.
About Clinical Interoperability
Clinical interoperability provides secure electronic exchange for
clinical health information among care providers or care
organizations, when and where it is needed, that helps enable
better care coordination, collaboration and delivery. It is viewed
by experts as the next critical step in accelerating the digital
transformation of the nation's healthcare system. The advance of
clinical interoperability plays a central role in a number of
important national healthcare initiatives, including improving
continuity of care, supporting the "meaningful use" of electronic
health records (EHRs), and advancing the patient-centered medical
home model of care, as well as accountable care.
Advantages of The Surescripts Network for Clinical
Interoperability
The Surescripts' Network for Clinical Interoperability is
currently being used by the nation's leading health systems and
other providers nationwide. It allows clinical care information,
including clinical messages, immunization summaries, CCDs,
referrals, discharge summaries and lab results, to be
instantaneously transmitted between peers, practices and health
systems locally and nationally across all technology
platforms.
The Surescripts Network for Clinical Interoperability supports all
federal and state policies and standards for health information
exchange, including privacy and security standards (such as HIPAA
and state law), technology interoperability standards (such as
Direct) and message types such as HL7 and CCDA.
About Surescripts
The Surescripts network supports the most comprehensive
ecosystem of healthcare organizations nationwide. Pharmacies,
payers, pharmacy benefit managers, physicians, hospitals, health
information exchanges and health technology firms rely on
Surescripts to more easily and securely share health information.
Guided by the principles of neutrality, transparency, physician and
patient choice, open standards, collaboration and privacy,
Surescripts operates the nation's largest health information
network. By providing information for routine, recurring and
emergency care, Surescripts is committed to saving lives, improving
efficiency and reducing the cost of health care for all. For more
information, go to www.surescripts.com and
follow us at twitter.com/surescripts.
About Rite Aid
Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) is one of the nation's
leading drugstore chains with more than 4,600 stores in 31 states
and the District of Columbia and fiscal 2012 annual revenues of
$26.1 billion. Information about Rite Aid, including corporate
background and press releases, is available through the company's
website at www.riteaid.com.
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Media Contact:
Elizabeth Hutter
WCG for Surescripts
212-259-0490
ehutter@wcgworld.com
