Medication adherence is critical to achieving positive outcomes for any patient, but especially those living in long-term care facilities. While data indicates that only about 50% of patients who are prescribed medications actually adhere to the regimen, there is important context to that statistic that may be overlooked.
Access to care is a persistent barrier for millions of Americans living in healthcare-shortage areas, particularly prevalent in rural communities where recruiting and retaining healthcare industry workers is an ongoing challenge. But, long-term care innovations that integrate medical operations with efficiency-focused pharmacy technology can help improve access to patient-centered care.
Industry reports have shown that the U.S. is dealing with a healthcare provider shortage nationwide, to include a shortage of pharmacists. Long-term care facilities managing treatment for residents in their area need a reliable, long-term care pharmacy partner to ensure that needs are met as they arise, understanding that every individual has different needs.
Types Of Long-Term Care Pharmacy Innovation
Pharmacy partners have the ability to integrate a number of innovative technologies into their processes that are designed to create efficiencies and ultimately benefit the long-term care facility and its residents. Here’s a look at three that UnitedRx utilizes.
Mediprocity. A HIPAA-compliant app, Mediprocity allows the pharmacy to communicate via text message with its long-term care facility partner. Administrators, nurses and doctors can be included in the text chain, making for quick, easy and compliant communication between everyone who is delivering care. The app is available for use on phones, tablets or computers.
PointClickCare. Essentially an electronic medical record, PCC is designed for skilled nursing facilities and connects facility services to billing, administration and even the pharmacy. For example, at UnitedRx, we are notified through a bi-directional interface with PCC when a new order for medication comes in or a new resident is added to the system. The cloud-based platform is designed to be a person-centric platform.
FrameworkVision. Built into the UnitedRx website, FrameworkVision gives long-term care facility partners visibility into vital aspects of pharmacy services to include the cost of medications, the ability to return medications, and tracking medications that are tagged to be destroyed.
At UnitedRx, we embrace the use of technology to facilitate better outcomes for the long-term care facilities with which we partner and the patients and residents in their care. From utilizing data-driven insights to aiding with prescription management to developing patient-centered care practices, we are continuously looking to optimize efficiencies for us and our partners to create optimal outcomes for the patients being treated.
In addition, the technology we utilize is designed to improve communication and make care for patients in long-term care facilities more accessible, easier to facilitate and exponentially more efficient.
To learn more about our telepharmacy practices and its benefits for your long-term care facility, connect with our team.
At UnitedRx, we deliver a hometown pharmacy experience to more than 400 clients across the country. Contact us to learn more about how our approach to treatment can meet the pharmacy needs of your long-term care facility.