Rochester General Health System
GRIPA Nationally Recognized By HIMSS and ASQ for Quality Electronic Prescribing
The Greater Rochester Independent Practice Association (GRIPA) in conjunction with the Rochester General Health System (RGHS), was recognized by the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the American Society of Quality (ASQ) for the deployment and implementation of an electronic prescribing system.
The GRIPA Connect electronic prescribing program links physicians, pharmacists and care managers to ensure the best care is provided to each patient at each point of care and in transitions of care. There are 200 to 300 local care providers using the system on a daily basis who have written over 90,000 prescriptions through this advanced technology. The built-in safety checks significantly improve quality of care by avoiding potential adverse drug reactions and interactions. Additionally, spending less time on administrative functions such as the paperwork associated with prescription renewals allows physicians and other care providers to spend more time on patient care.
“Stories of Success! Health IT’s Impact on National Safety Goals and Priorities”, sponsored by HIMSS and ASQ, emphasizes the link between the use of information technology in health care and improvements in health care quality and patient safety. The program showcases outstanding accomplishments in real-world adoption and use of information technology that has improved health care safety, quality, effectiveness and efficiency, following the national priorities established by the National Priorities Partnership (NPP) and The Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG).
As a result of the e-Prescribing deployment at one of the practices in the Rochester General Medical Associates (RGMA), the practice realized the following benefits:
- 600 prescriptions are now processed electronically each week, and growing
- Dramatic reduction in time to process prescription renewals from up to a week to less than 24 hours
- Patient complaints reduced by 50%
- Prescription-related phone calls dropped by 80%
These positive outcomes are expected to grow as the usage rate of the e-Prescribing system grows. The RGMA and other practices in the GRIPA network also have the opportunity to gain additional reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid through financial incentives to use e-Prescribing.
For more information about HIMSS Stories of Success!, go to the HIMSS Website. And for more detailed information on this project, see the summary at: http://www.himss.org/storiesofsuccess/docs/tier1/RochesterGeneralHealthSystem_Tier1.pdf.
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About GRIPA
GRIPA brings together the extraordinary knowledge and expertise of an 822-physician membership, two community hospitals, and a medical management and information technology staff with goal of improving the quality and cost effectiveness of health care. The GRIPA Connect e-Prescribing system is a component of the comprehensive GRIPA Connect Clinical Integration (CI) program. The GRIPA Connect CI program is a connected community of physicians, hospitals, labs and imaging facilities with electronic access to complete patient information, support from patient care managers, and assistance to fulfill a commitment to evidence-based clinical care. The program has the ability to deliver higher quality, patient-centered care while simultaneously creating efficiencies that can benefit payers, employers and patients. GRIPA has engaged both employers and health plans to bring the benefits of Clinical Integration to their members. For more information about GRIPA and the GRIPA Connect Clinical Integration program, visit www.gripa.org and www.gripaconnect.com.
About RGMA
The Rochester General Medical Associates (RGMA) is made up of multiple specialty practices including Ophthalmology, Dental and Orthopedics among others, as well as offering internal medicine and family care services. The GRIPA Connect e-Prescribing application is used by the outpatient department (OPD) and Twig clinic with 57 residents, 6 attending physicians and several mid-level providers across two physically separate locations on the same campus. Together the OPD and Twig see about 32,000 patients annually with about 80% of patients on Medicaid, 10% with commercial insurance, and 10% self-pay.
About ASQ
ASQ (The American Society for Quality) has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 85,000 individual and organizational members – with nearly 4,000 healthcare members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As a champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding sponsor of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.
About HIMSS
HIMSS is a comprehensive healthcare-stakeholder membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Brussels, Singapore, and other locations across the United States, HIMSS represents more than 23,000 individual members, of which 73% work in patient care delivery settings. HIMSS also includes over 380 corporate members and nearly 30 not-for-profit organizations that share our mission of transforming healthcare through the effective use of information technology and management systems. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its educational, professional development, and advocacy initiatives designed to promote information and management systems’ contributions to ensuring quality patient care.
