Enhanced bidirectional integration supports efficiency, patient safety and regulatory compliance for hospice and palliative care providers.
PHILADELPHIA, August 6, 2024 – Enclara Pharmacia, the nation’s leading hospice-focused pharmacy services provider, announces the launch of a bidirectional medication interface with MatrixCare, a leader in out-of-hospital healthcare technology solutions. This integration between Enclara’s E3 ProTM platform and MatrixCare’s electronic health record (EHR) delivers real-time, two-way communication between systems, enabling hospice clinicians to save time and provide quality patient care through secure access to the most current and accurate information about patient medications.
“Our mantra is ‘you deliver the care, we make it easier,’ so we are always looking for opportunities to reduce the time and effort associated with medication management,” said Enclara CEO Mark Morse. “Greater interoperability supports both efficiency and accuracy which ultimately means a superior experience of care for patients and their loved ones.”
With a standard medication interface, the nurse enters a medication in the hospice EHR, which transmits to Enclara. The nurse then uses Enclara’s E3 Pro application to order the medication either through electronic prescribing to a local pharmacy or through Enclara’s national fulfillment centers. This process supports accurate claims adjudication and provides full visibility to Enclara pharmacists for 24/7 symptom management consultations and drug utilization reviews required by Medicare. However, sometimes the nurse needs to profile a new medication for the patient in E3 Pro directly. This results in them having to then also profile the medication in the EHR. With the bidirectional interface, the newly profiled medication is automatically loaded up into the EHR, supporting efficiency and patient safety.
“While it’s ideal for all medications to be entered in the EHR prior to dispensing, we know that’s not always possible, particularly in hospice care as patient needs can change quickly due to disease progression,” said Tim Smokoff, General Manager for Home Health and Hospice at MatrixCare. “This innovation provides our hospice partners with maximum flexibility and enhances patient safety by ensuring that the patient record accurately reflects the full medication profile at all times.”
This enhanced integration also simplifies regulatory compliance under Medicare’s Hospice Change Request (CR) 8358 requirements. With the real-time two-way flow of information between Enclara and MatrixCare’s platforms, the time-consuming process of manual reconciliation to ensure an accurate health record can be reduced or eliminated.
About Enclara Pharmacia
As the nation’s leading pharmacy services provider and PBM for the hospice and palliative care community, Enclara Pharmacia (enclarapharmacia.com) empowers people to transform hospice care through collaboration, creativity, and compassion. Through a comprehensive network of retail and institutional pharmacies, a national patient-direct dispensing program and dedicated inpatient services, Enclara ensures timely and reliable medication access in any care setting. Combining clinical expertise, proprietary technology and a patient-focused, nurse-centric approach, Enclara enables hospices of all sizes and models to improve quality of life for individuals experiencing progressive illness.
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