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First Health Services and RxHub Announce Partnership Agreement to Provide ePrescribing Services for Medicaid Recipients

Posted on: Friday, 19 October 2007, 09:00 CDT

First Health Services and RxHub today announced a joint agreement to provide a secure network infrastructure for ePrescribing for Medicaid recipients in 14 states nationwide. The infrastructure provides authorized physicians with access to critical decision support at the point of care through the RxHub National Patient Health Information Network™. This information helps physicians make informed prescribing decisions that promote patient safety and manage costs associated with healthcare delivery.

The administration of Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS) and standalone Pharmaceutical Services point-of-sale systems has changed dramatically since First Health Services entered the fiscal agent business in 1972. Today, state Medicaid programs, and the providers they serve, are demanding much more than just timely and reliable claims processing. In today's rapidly changing technological environment, Pharmaceutical Services Systems that support Medicaid programs must be designed to allow greater and ready access to program data so that program managers can enhance fiscal control, reduce fraud and abuse, coordinate fee-for-service (FFS), managed care programs and promote appropriate and quality care for program recipients--all in a manner consistent with the privacy protections required by HIPAA.

"The partnership with RxHub provides secured access to real-time critical patient information for program recipients that are needed to enhance fiscal controls, reduce fraud and abuse, and promote quality care," stated Peter Quinn, chief operating officer, First Health Services. "First Health Services' strong clinical and technical focus provides the services that Medicaid agencies, and the members and providers they serve, now require."

First Health Services is certified and connected to the RxHub National Patient Health Information Network™. This connection enables authorized physicians access to critical patient information including patient eligibility, benefits, formulary and medication history data which allows the physician to make informed prescribing decisions at the point of prescribing that promote patient safety and manage costs associated with healthcare delivery.

"This prominent relationship increases the value of ePrescribing for the nation," stated Tom Groom, Senior Vice President of Business Development for RxHub. "The secured access to 11 million Medicaid and Senior Prescription Drug Program (SPAP) lives managed by First Health Services will provide authorized physicians with the critical patient information needed at the point of care. This allows physicians to make informed decisions at the point of prescribing and enables physicians to send electronic prescriptions to the patient's choice of pharmacy."

According to findings by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) published in the journal Health Affairs, advanced ePrescribing features should include the ability to maintain complete patient medication lists, provide clinical decision support, access patient-specific formulary data, and provide the ability for two-way electronic communication between the medical practices, pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers. Becoming part of the RxHub National Patient Health Information Network™ enables First Health Services to provide this advanced ePrescribing functionality.

About First Health Services

First Health Services is a unique national Medicaid fee-for-service and managed health care company that offers comprehensive services to payers across the country -- including 27 states, and the District of Columbia. Serving the state public sector program market, First Health Services' core competency is managing total health care costs while educating and empowering consumers. More information is available at www.fhsc.com.

About RxHub LLC

RxHub (www.rxhub.net) manages the RxHub National Health Information Network™ which electronically routes up-to-date patient-specific medication history and pharmacy benefit information to caregivers at every point of care. Our end-to-end solution enables physicians to prescribe the most clinically appropriate and cost effective prescription and send it electronically to the patient's pharmacy of choice. Operating as a cost recovery business model, RxHub partners with stakeholders in the prescribing industry to improve patient safety, increase workflow efficiency and reduce the overall cost of health care delivery.

Source: Business Wire

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