Medical E-prescription Platform

Our client wanted to start with an MVP version of the digital health platform that would allow end users to create orders for Schedule I drugs and laboratory tests. They also decided to equip the eRX module with basic clinical decision support (CDS) functionality. 

Our team of business analysts rolled out a plan for an extended MVP that would be competitive enough to effectively cater to end users’ needs within the client’s planned budget and deadlines. The final version of the eRx product is capable of the following: 

Managing medication orders

Within a new eRx system, providers can place multiple prescription orders, send orders to a preferred pharmacy, refill prescriptions, as well as track the statuses of prescription orders.

Implementing patient safety features

We enhanced the eRx module with clinical decision support (CDS) functionality to enable drug–drug and allergy alerts for reducing preventable adverse drug events (ADEs). The CDS-enabled eRx system is now capable of checking a prescribed medication against a patient’s medical data (age, weight, diagnoses, allergies, history of previous and current treatments). The system can also alert prescribers of possible contraindications, dangerous doses, potential adverse reactions, and duplicate therapies as well as provide instructions on how to provide better treatment. Providers can replace medication with an alternative.

Sending lab and radiology test orders

We also added functionality to send laboratory and radiology test orders to a particular laboratory and receive results in the EHR system. This feature includes basic decision support to avoid harmful or even life-threatening duplication of test orders. As with prescription orders, providers can save the most commonly used test patterns for a patient for more convenient and faster reordering.

Managing eligibility verification

We had to enable integrations with both insurance formulary databases and pharmacy benefits management databases to ensure access to exhaustive formulary information. By accessing a patient’s eligibility information, the benefit verification functionality in our eRx module is able to communicate the status for each medication prescribed. This helps prescribers determine the most clinically appropriate and cost-effective option for a patient. The system automatically notifies prescribers if a selected drug requires prior authorization. Providers can also submit prior authorization requests via the EHR system to get instant feedback from payers or pharmacy benefit managers while still interacting with a patient.

Ordering controlled substances

Our client wanted to offer the eRx module in three US states: California, Texas, and Michigan. To comply with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Interim Final Rule requirements, we enabled prescriber identity proofing and access control to give Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS) permissions to approved providers. We also ensured two-factor authentication when signing EPCS prescriptions, integrated with the Narx Score system, and implemented an audit log to track security incidents and ensure compliance with DEA requirements.

Securing patient health records and enabling decision support

Yalantis has developed a fully HIPAA-compliant eRx software solution that meets Drug DEA EPCS requirements and is secure enough to obtain ONC Health IT Certification. The system includes a microservice architecture for quick scalability and maintainability and a software quality control system with a set of testing techniques. The system can retrieve drug information from the DEA and openFDA databases and is integrated with FirstDataBank open API and RxNav for basic decision support.