Press Releases
RelayHealth Launches NotifyRx™ Solution To Help Pharmacists Enhance Patient Safety
NotifyRx expedites delivery of critical drug information news to pharmacists to prevent adverse drug events at the point of dispensing
Boston, MA, Aug 13, 2007 — RelayHealth, the leader in connective healthcare solutions, today announced the launch of its NotifyRx™ solution, a real-time messaging notification and intervention tool for pharmacy businesses. RelayHealth leverages connectivity to over 50,000 chain and independent pharmacies that fill prescriptions on behalf of their patients with critical safety messaging from pharmaceutical manufacturers. The NotifyRx solution puts the latest drug information news instantly into the hands of retail pharmacists before they fulfill a prescription order that could potentially harm the patient.
"The usual mechanisms of transmitting vital pharmaceutical communications to pharmacies are generally slow, unreliable and inefficient – often hindering pharmacists from being current with critical drug information when filling a patient's prescription," said Jay Wiley, senior director, RelayHealth's Pharmacy Solutions. "In contrast, the NotifyRx solution provides timely communications that improve chances of avoiding adverse drug interactions and facilitates accurate distribution and safe use of medications."
Some recent examples validate the patient safety benefits of the real-time messaging and intervention capabilities in the NotifyRx solution.
In July, the NotifyRx solution alerted pharmacies of an FDA-mandated change of the drug name Omacor® to Lovaza®. While the drug entity remained the same, the National Drug Code (NDC) number changed, which could potentially confuse pharmacists, technicians and patients. Reliant Pharmaceuticals and retail pharmacies found this messaging pilot valuable, noting it may have prevented incidences of double dosing. To date, 36,802 pharmacy stores have contracted to receive NotifyRx electronic message notification, and in the case of Lovaza, more than 76,000 hard stops – functionality to ensure that critical information is provided before proceeding – were cited within 14 days of the notification change.
RelayHealth worked in a consultative manner to partner with Reliant Pharmaceuticals on an important issue confronting one of their drugs. Faced with a name change and an NDC change on their premier product, they searched for the best way to deliver an impactful message to retail pharmacists and technicians – and ultimately, the customer. Reliant chose RelayHealth for its broad reach across the pharmacy spectrum. Because of RelayHealth's messaging at the point of medication dispensing, Reliant was confident it could ease the change transition, reduce patient and pharmacy confusion, and reduce the frequency of callbacks to physicians and managed care organizations. RelayHealth's method helped to ensure continuity and patient safety.
Critical drug information such as drug recalls, changes in medication appearance or dosages, FDA-mandated disease treatment protocols and safe drug disposal information are commonly announced by drug manufacturers and require rapid dissemination to pharmacy dispensaries and to patients. The NotifyRx solution, powered by RelayHealth's intelligent pharmacy claims processing network, gives retail pharmacists a consistent and proven electronic messaging resource at the point of dispensing or whenever a patient submits an order for a new prescription or refill. The solution enhances the pharmacist's ability to immediately inform the patient of the latest news specific to the ordered prescription, mitigating errors and improving the quality of care.
The launch of this new connectivity application comes at a time when medical errors and patient safety continue to be a national concern. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Preventing Medication Errors (2007, released July 2006), focused the nation's attention once again on the serious dilemma of medication safety – highlighting that millions are harmed or killed by medication errors every year.
In another program, an FDA analysis of clinical trial data identified increased risk of serious cardiovascular adverse events (heart problems) associated with use of a drug. To comply with the FDA request, the drug manufacturer voluntarily announced suspending marketing of the drug. Within the first 12 days following the announcement and for only the pharmacies that requested it, RelayHealth disseminated more than 13,000 messages via the NotifyRx solution advising of the drug recall. The real-time messaging and intervention on behalf of the pharmacy facilitated halting dispensing of the medication and may have contributed to saving lives.
"At RelayHealth, we believe that consistent, timely communication of potentially life-threatening drug and health information is best disseminated at the point of dispensing," said Wiley. "The NotifyRx tool delivers customized relevant information specific to a patient's medication to help the pharmacist provide the best care possible and that includes preventing errors. Patients, in turn, trust their local pharmacy knowing that there are safeguards in place to decrease the risk of error."
The NotifyRx solution offers four types of electronic messaging options that communicate drug and health information: consumer safety, product disposal, product update, and educational material.
For more information, visit RelayHealth in Booth 1280 at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Pharmacy & Technology Conference, to be held in Boston at the New Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Aug. 11-15.
About RelayHealth
RelayHealth is McKesson's vendor-neutral connectivity services company. Its intelligent network is designed to streamline clinical, financial and administrative communication between patients, providers, payors, pharmacies and financial institutions. RelayHealth works to accelerate the delivery of high-quality care and improve financial performance through solutions such as online consultation of physicians by patients, electronic prescribing, point-of-service pharmacy claims resolution by payors, pre-visit patient financial clearance by providers, and post-visit provider bill settlement by payors and patients. Our pharmacy solutions include: Pre & Post Editing Services, RxSafety Advisor™, AWP Resubmission Services, eVoucherRx™, Preferred PatientRx™, EasyFSA™; and our payor solutions include: IntegrateRx™ and ProPBMSM. RelayHealth operates as a neutral partner in an open network environment, offering connectivity and integration among all organizations, systems, and solutions. For more information, call (800) 778-6711, or visit our Web site at http://www.RelayHealth.com.
Media Inquiries
Janeen Cook
(404) 338-2317
Janeen.Cook@relayhealth.com
