The first and most critical step of medication reconciliation is compiling an accurate and detailed medication history list for the patient upon admission. The challenge is that frequently the patient is a poor historian, the caregiver has limited knowledge or incomplete documentation of medication history, and lastly manual procurement from multiple sources is time consuming, and therefore costly to the hospital.

Through their integration with DrFirst, MEDITECH’s medication management feature retrieves patient medication history from the past 12 months via various data sources including RxHub, DrFirst payer hosted data, and physicians connected to the DrFirst e-prescribing network to ensure a complete and accurate list. The following information is compiled from various data sources; drug name and form, dispensed quantity, SIG Information, the prescriber’s name, dates filled, and the source of information.

"We’ve worked closely with DrFirst to deliver the most comprehensive access to patient medication histories to streamline the medication reconciliation process and transition patients between care environments,” said Howard Messing, President and COO at MEDITECH. “We strongly believe this integration will result in improved patient safety, quality of care, and hospital workflows."

The discharge medication functionality will utilize DrFirst’s award-winning e-prescribing engine to provide hospitals with health plan information such as drug formularies while enabling electronic prescribing between hospital and pharmacy. In addition, it will allow providers to prescribe inpatient forms of medications for outpatient homecare.

“Our experience has shown that there is a critical need for electronic prescribing and medication management in the acute care setting," said G. Cameron Deemer, President, DrFirst, Inc. "MEDITECH is clearly a front-runner by bringing this product to market quickly."

The new MEDITECH 6.0 Client/Server Release will showcase the new Medication Management and e-Prescribing features during the HIMSS 2008 Annual Conference & Exhibition from February 24 - February 28, 2008 in the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida at booth #1548.

About MEDITECH

MEDITECH has been the leader in the Health Care Information Systems (HCIS) industry since 1969. MEDITECH's applications unify clinical, administrative, and financial information across a health care organization, including acute care, long-term care, home health care, and physician practices. Today, more than 2,000 institutions worldwide use MEDITECH's information systems. For additional information on MEDITECH products and services, visit www.meditech.com.

About DrFirst

DrFirst is a national provider of physician connectivity services through its award-winning, GoldRx Certified Rcopia electronic prescription management system. Founded in 2000, DrFirst creates innovative services targeted to physicians in both ambulatory and acute care environments. DrFirst solutions are widely integrated with practice management and electronic medical records software through its "Open Borders" program, and the company counts among its client base not only physician practices, but major health plans, health systems, and EMR vendors. DrFirst partners with SureScripts and RxHub for pharmacy connectivity, health plan information, and patient medication history. More information about DrFirst can be found at www.drfirst.com.