Humana to integrate IntelligentRx into Epic's e-prescribing workflow
Humana says it is the first national insurer to collaborate with Epic to bring together patients, providers, and the insurer in a value-based model.
Human and Epic today announced an agreement to integrate technologies for advanced interoperability between patients, providers and the insurer.
Humana said it is the first national healthcare insurer to collaborate with the widely-used electronic health records system to bring together patients, providers and the insurer in a value-based model.
Patients and their practitioners will have integrated and real-time access to the patients' medical history, health insights and treatment options, all aimed at reducing costs, improving quality and increasing patient satisfaction.
Humana will integrate its Real-Time Benefits Check tool, IntelligentRx , directly into Epic's e-prescribing workflow, delivering real-time pharmacy data to weigh evidence-based outcomes with the patients' individual medication cost and coverage.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Interoperability is among the most important challenges in healthcare today.
Besides increasing the breadth, quality, and timeliness of data exchange to better track quality measures, the collaboration should reduce cost and improve the extent of specialty care by showing quality and cost information to providers as they make referral decisions at the point of care.
It is expected to improve drug adherence by presenting medication alternatives with cost information to providers while they prescribe.
It is aimed at improving provider access to claims to support the monitoring of value‐based arrangement performance.
And it should ease administrative burden and improve timeliness for prior authorization decisions.
TREND
An estimated one half of Humana Medicare Advantage members already see a doctor who uses Epic's platform, according to Alan Wheatley, president of Humana's retail segment.
ON THE RECORD
"The integration of IntelligentRx's decision-making platform with Epic's product empowers physicians and their patients to make treatment decisions together, based on efficacy and cost transparency. When prescribers use IntelligentRx and they are presented with alternatives, we find that they select the more cost effective treatment nearly 40 percent of the time," said Scott Greenwell, president of Humana Pharmacy Solutions.
"This transformative relationship brings together the provider, the payer, and the patient in new ways so they're all working from the same playbook," said Alan Hutchison, vice president of Population Health at Epic. "The relationship is also about aligning information to reduce the administrative burden on providers and improve quality and transparency for patients."
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: susan.morse@himssmedia.com
