Jumping on board the electronic health record (EHR) bandwagon, Walgreens will implement a customized EHR system from Greenway Medical Technologies in its nearly 8,000 pharmacies to better track all health services provided in the facilities, according to HealthData Management.
The EHR is called WellHealth and Walgreens already uses the vendor’s PrimeSuite EHR in its Take Care convenient care clinics in more than 700 pharmacies. Now, WellHealth will coordinate other care in the pharmacies, as well as Take Care services, including medication records, immunizations and health tests, regardless of the Walgreens location where services were rendered, the story reported.
Though pharmacies will not receive direct funding or incentives for adopting electronic medical record technology, the electronic personal health record (ePHR) – generated by physicians, pharmacists, hospitals and other healthcare providers but managed by the patient – is what healthcare analysts consider the best electronic tool to address concerns about the privacy issues that come with electronic records.
More than half of office-based physicians in the United States reportedly use
e-prescribing, according to a story by Rachelle Spiro, RPh, FASCP. The number of pharmacies connected electronically also continues to increase, she noted. According to Surescripts, 91 percent of community pharmacies in the U.S. in 2010 were connected for prescription-routing compared with 76 percent in 2008. For independently owned pharmacies, 73 percent were connected in 2010, compared with 46 percent in 2008.
Another reason Walgreens is moving to EHRs? A national survey reported that community pharmacists and technicians were generally satisfied with e-prescribing because of the improved legibility of electronic prescriptions and more efficient processing, Spiro added. Pharmacists in the survey also noted that refill prescriptions and new prescriptions required less staff time.
Walgreens’ customized EHR also will support consumer scheduling of appointments and real-time medical billing, with electronic prescribing and data exchange functions expected in the future. WellHealth is in 200 stores with implementation scheduled to be completed by the end of summer 2013.
Edited by
Amanda Ciccatelli
