Special report: E-health play MedAdvisor has signed a deal with Australia’s biggest provider of pharmacy services to private hospitals.

The deal with HPS — a subsidiary of healthcare giant EBOS — will deliver a digital solution to help patients and medical practitioners better manage medication and access to medical records.

MedAdvisor (ASX:MDR) markets an app that tracks medications and scripts for patients and connects to doctors and pharmacists without the hassle of juggling paper scripts.

It’s estimated half of medication errors occur at a patient’s “transition of care” from one specialist to another. Errors often result from a lack of access to accurate information and medical records.

MedAdvisor and HPS will work together to tackle the problem.

A formal process to record and manage all records and prescriptions could significantly improve the standard of care given within hospitals, says MedAdvisor chief Robert Read.

That’s backed up by research.

A formal medication reconciliation process at admission, transfer and discharge can reduce medication errors by up to 94 per cent, according to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

Reduction in prescription and diagnosis errors can also reduce hospital re-admissions and accompanying costs.

Patient acquisition opportunity

Hospitals could bring MedAdvisor an extra patient acquisition opportunity, beyond pharmacies and GPs.

With more than 11 million patients admitted into hospitals between 2016 and 2017 (according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) there is a huge opportunity to improve their transition into and out of the hospital’s care.

The initial solution will see the two parties develop and pilot a solution over the coming 12 months.

“This solution could provide a valuable, time-saving and potentially life-saving service to patients,” Mr Read said.

“We believe an integrated solution that fully empowers the patient, while making the admission process simpler for patients and more efficient for the hospital represents a win-win outcome.

“Ensuring better continuity of care for patients back into the community setting after a hospital episode, as well as finding ways to encourage behaviours that drive medication adherence is aligned with MedAdvisor’s purpose and supports a key goal for the overall health system.”

Full patient control

The solution will give MedAdvisor patients full control to authorise and permit hospital pharmacists to electronically request and retrieve their medication history at the time of admission.

The process is expected to help with continuity of care, improve information flows and reduce the risk of medication misadventure for patients in hospital.

The initiative is part of the company’s domestic growth plan to expand into the hospital channel.

“We have a strong position in the pharmacy and GP market, with over 50 per cent of Australian pharmacies currently using our software,” Mr Read said.

“It is our goal to increase the connectivity between patients and their care givers to improve medication management and adherence and the hospital channel is the next logical step.”

HPS is the third EBOS subsidiary MedAdvisor has partnered with following the healthcare giant’s $9.5 million  investment in October that saw it become a shareholder and strategic partner.

Other subsidiaries that MedAdvisor (ASX:MDR) has partnered with include TerryWhite Chemmart and Zest.

 

This special report is brought to you by MedAdvisor.

This advice has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should, therefore, consider the appropriateness of the advice, in light of your own objectives, financial situation or needs, before acting on the advice.

If this advice relates to the acquisition, or possible acquisition, of a particular financial product, the recipient should obtain a disclosure document, a Product Disclosure Statement or an offer document (PDS) relating to the product and consider the PDS before making any decision about whether to acquire the product.

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