Back to Blog List

Topics/Previous Posts

  • Jul 10, 2016

Using innovative technology to combat opioid abuse

CHA is one of the first health systems in Mass. to use e-prescribing technology for controlled substances.

This enables our providers to electronically send medications directly to the pharmacy and minimizes the risks of fraud and drug diversion associated with paper-based prescriptions. Art Ream, CHA’s director of IT applications and chief information officer, has been invited to speak at conferences across the country about this innovation, and he's also discussed it with several news outlets.

Art recently detailed the e-prescribing technology with Health Leaders. It has already saved the 700+ physicians at CHA hundreds of hours by reducing printing paper prescriptions for controlled substances. In its place is a system that requires physicians to enter a username and password, then a sequence of numbers, which refreshes every 30 seconds.

Before rolling out the application, CHA physicians found themselves having to drive across town to another clinic to sign prescriptions, printed on a secured printer, for maintenance doses of controlled substances. Signing these prescriptions can now be entered by physicians at any one of CHA’s workstations. See this Boston Globe story for more details on this initiative.


Disclaimer
This articles provide general information for educational purposes only. The information provided in this article, or through linkages to other sites, is not a substitute for medical or professional care, and you should not use the information in place of a visit, call consultation or the advice of your physician or other healthcare provider.

Back to Blog List

Affiliated with:
Teaching hospital of:
Close