Combining HIE, eRx database to EHRs improves med list accuracy

Combining the data of EHRs, a commercial medication database and a community health information exchange increased the accuracy of patients' medication lists, according to a study published in the American Journal of Managed Care.

Researchers analyzed EHR data for 858 patients who were admitted at two New York hospitals in the same healthcare system between September 2010 and April 2011. The patients were prescribed a total of 7,731 medications.

Physicians at the hospitals were able to access the EHRs, HIE and database. When researchers compared data from the three sources with medication lists that were compiled by patients and verified, they found that EHRs captured 80 percent of patients' medications accurately; the commercial medication database accurately captured 45 percent; and the HIE accurately captured 37 percent.

When all three data sources were combined, however, they captured 91 percent of patients' medication lists accurately.

The researchers attributed the combination of data sources on patient medication lists as helping providers "improve patient safety by improving patients' recall of their own medication history and allergy information, as well as by reducing medication discrepancies."