Geisinger: Leveraging EPCS to combat opioid abuse while saving $1M per month
Geisinger Health System is a 767-bed health system serving 3 million patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In an effort to address opioid abuse, Geisinger implemented a comprehensive approach that included encouraging non-opioid reliant therapies, leveraging the Pennsylvania state prescription drug monitoring programs, linking the provider dashboard to their EHR and enabling EPCS. This approach allowed Geisinger to reduce opioid prescribing by 50 percent, with even higher reductions as the program continued. The EPCS initiative has also generated a significant cost savings of nearly $1 million per month by eliminating inefficiencies associated with paper prescriptions.
Hartford HealthCare: A blueprint for EPCS success
Hartford HealthCare is a 1,954-bed system based in Hartford, Conn. In June 2017, the state of Connecticut passed a new law mandating EPCS. Moving to EPCS would ultimately deliver a single, electronic prescribing workflow for all medications and address the challenges of paper prescriptions. However, given the complexity of the DEA requirements for EPCS, Hartford HealthCare needed to develop a comprehensive plan to roll out a fully compliant EPCS solution in time to meet the deadline. As a result, Hartford HealthCare was able to improve workflow efficiency, increase provider and patient satisfaction and decrease the risk of drug diversion and fraud.