Epic platform gives more visibility into lower-cost options

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health has adopted the Epic Healthy Planet population health and analytics platform to gain insights on dispensing patterns and medication adherence behavior.

CVS said Monday that Epic’s software will aid prescription decision making for patients and their care teams — including doctors, pharmacists and health insurers — by giving prescribers more visibility into lower-cost options through enhanced analytics and data sharing.

For example, real-time benefit information and easier electronic prior authorization at the point of prescribing will simplify patient access to medications and ensure prescribers are aware of prescription insurance formulary status and less-expensive alternatives, according to CVS.

In addition to Healthy Planet, CVS is using Epic’s electronic health record (EHR) platform to support its MinuteClinic nurse practitioners and CVS Specialty care management programs.

“This collaboration with Epic will enable us to continue to drive leading-edge technology innovation beyond the pharmacy to the full health care system,” CVS Health chief information officer Stephen Gold said in a statement the Healthy Planet implementation. “Our two companies will also examine opportunities to streamline and improve data sharing and linkages across the health care system to enhance communication and connectivity among patients, their physicians, the pharmacy and health insurers.”

Besides informing patients and prescribers in real time about covered, clinically effective drugs at the lowest out-of-pocket cost, the CVS-Epic collaboration will explore the development of a clinical database to enhance medication counseling and optimize medication selection for CVS Health patients. Also on the radar screen is a shared care plan that would improve pharmacists’ access to clinical information and facilitate their contribution to a patient’s care plan, improving continuity of care.

“We recognize that EHRs offer health care providers easier and more comprehensive access to their patients’ information than ever before,” stated Troy Brennan, chief medical officer of CVS Health. “This new relationship will help us further expand how we work with Epic and providers on their EHR system to develop meaningful tools and programs that will ultimately help us take even better care of the patients we support.”

CVS said another possibility from the collaboration is the creation of a digital front store, which would enable purchases of over-the-counter medications and durable medical equipment to be included in a patient’s EHR.

“CVS Health is one of the leaders in using data to dissolve domain silos while offering new sources of intelligence and expertise that can better inform care delivery, reduce administrative overhead and lower costs for patients,” according to Alan Hutchison, vice president of population health at Epic.