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Leveraging and Improving Refill Protocols at Your Health System.
Jeffrey T Tokazewski1, Maryanne Peifer1, John T Howell1
1Office of the Chief Medical Information Officer, Penn Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Applied Clinical Informatics
|September 19, 2022
Summary
Improving medication refill processes, this study enhanced clinical decision support (CDS) protocols, increasing protocol-supported refills from 49% to 82% and improving efficiency and clinician satisfaction.
Area of Science:
- Health Informatics
- Clinical Decision Support Systems
- Ambulatory Care Pharmacy
Background:
- Medication refill processing is a significant time burden in ambulatory care.
- Existing electronic health record (EHR) vendor-supplied protocols often lack breadth and quality.
- Need for improved clinical decision support (CDS) tools to manage refill requests efficiently and safely.
Purpose of the Study:
- To enhance the quality and scope of EHR-supplied refill protocols.
- To develop novel protocols leveraging best practices and emerging evidence.
- To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of medication refill processing.
Main Methods:
- Established a refill protocol governance group for protocol review and development.
- Prioritized new protocol creation based on refill frequency and medication risk.
- Involved subject-matter experts for enhanced protocol accuracy and consensus.
Main Results:
- Increased the proportion of protocol-supported refills from 49% to 82% over two years.
- Managed approximately 11 million refills annually, with a substantial increase in protocol utilization.
- Implemented filters for rapid approval of protocol-compliant refills, optimizing clinician time.
Conclusions:
- Refill protocols are effective CDS tools for enhancing efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction.
- A dedicated governance structure is crucial for systematic review, editing, and building of refill protocols.
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