One of the most important rooms in healthcare is the exam room. From health history conversations to common medical tests; from difficult diagnoses to medication prescribing—the exam room really is the room where it happens.
In the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton gather to make a secret deal that affects the future of the American people. In today’s modern exam room, similar meetings take place that impact the future of patient lives. Providers often discuss specific care options after doing their own research, recalling a course of action from their training, or using historical data from the EHR. But as Hamilton’s Aaron Burr once said, “No one really knows how the game is played, the art of the trade, how the sausage gets made. We just assume it happens.”
In reality, many providers don’t know where EHR data comes from or how to best leverage it to make informed clinical decisions. What’s needed for the exam room to maintain its position as the room where it happens is better patient data. As Burr would say, that would be the pièce de résistance.
Delivering just any data will not suffice however, since providers will not leverage information in patient conversations if they don’t think it is reliable, if they have to “wait for it, wait for it,” or if they have to “look around, look around.” Without accurate data, providers might prescribe medications that are not covered under a patient’s insurance, send a patient to a lab that is out of network, or order care that is costly and requires authorization from the patient’s health plan. What’s needed are intelligent systems that can deliver comprehensive, curated, actionable data to provider workflows so they can select the most clinically relevant and affordable care options for their patients.
Real-Time Prescription Benefit—the interface that displays patient-specific coverage and cost data in EHR workflows—has been adopted by many health systems across the country. This technology brings accurate patient data to the exam room, enabling providers to make the most informed care decisions. Without ever leaving the room where it happens, providers are able to:
- View patient-specific medication costs and lower-cost alternatives
- Understand formulary restrictions and avoid medications that might require prior authorization
- Access meaningful medication and pharmacy alternatives to create a more seamless, convenient prescribing experience
While most providers don’t claim to rap like the cast of Hamilton, they’d all join the chorus in shouting, “That’s a lot less work!”
As policy mandates (from CMS—not King George III, unfortunately) gain traction, it is essential that the healthcare industry move toward a more patient-centric model in which data is shared seamlessly from one entity to another. By partnering with RTPB solution providers like RxRevu, health systems, payers/PBMs, and EHR vendors can deliver trustworthy data directly to the exam room—not via online portals, apps, or forums. And with better data at their fingertips, providers can create a truly patient-centric experience—all in the room where it happens.
