Horizon BCBS Introduces E-Med Safety Pilot Program
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) announced plans to commence a new pilot program to ensure the safety of patients through utilization of a new e-medication history program. The insurer is the first in the country to support the deployment of this innovative safety program.
The pilot program will initially be rolled out to a select number of hospitals in the Horizon BCBSNJ network. The insurer is spending almost half a million dollars to implement a technology which supports electronic medication history.
The technology provides clinicians with access to a patient’s medication history in real-time. The information can be particularly useful when patients are admitted to either the emergency room or the hospital. This will reduce the likelihood that patients will experience adverse drug reactions.
The system is particularly useful for those patients who are on multiple medications, which may make it difficult to remember either the drug or dose. Clinicians will have access to a patient’s complete medication history, which was not previously available.
One of the first facilities to adopt the technology is Chilton Memorial Hospital in Morris County. Horizon BCBSNJ is supporting the significant majority (85 percent) of the costs to implement the Electronic Medication History tool, paying up to $400,000. It is expected that eight hospitals will implement the system during 2008.
July 14, 2008 Related topics: Trends, Quality, Safety, Errors