First U.S. Pharmacy to Use AI to Improve Drug Matching and Usability

Galva Pharmacy is First U.S. Pharmacy to Use AI to Improve Drug Matching and Usability of Rx Instructions in E-Prescriptions DrFirst's SmartSuite AI, with its patented SmartDrug and SmartSig, works within the Speed Script Pharmacy Management System to save pharmacists time, increase prescription accuracy, and improve patient safety. Even with widespread electronic prescribing, pharmacists are still plagued by the need to manually correct free text found in prescribing instructions, known as sigs, for 84% of new prescriptions, which can lead to errors, take time away from patients, and decrease pharmacy productivity. Galva Pharmacy owner Scott Caravello, RPh, says the decision to add SmartSuite to his store's PMS workflow was an easy one, given its commitment to patient safety and excellent customer service. "SmartSig and SmartDrug work seamlessly within our Speed Script system to make electronic prescriptions more usable with far fewer keystrokes. Because SmartSig automatically infers missing details in the prescription instructions, it cuts down the need to manually enter and type in data. But it does this only when it's safe and clear, so patient safety is always preserved. In the end, SmartSuite helps our pharmacists reduce the chance for errors and gives them more time for patient counseling." Now available to pharmacies, SmartSig has been used by hospitals and health systems since 2015 to enhance the quality of more than 6 million prescriptions per day. The technology accurately translates 93% of patient directions, helping avoid medication errors and saving 10 seconds or more of work for each drug entered. DrFirst's SmartDrug uses a superior AI algorithm to pair specific drugs in electronic prescriptions to the equivalent medications used by a pharmacy's PMS as well as the drugs on its shelves—which is particularly meaningful since prescribers and pharmacy systems rarely use the same national drug code (NDC). "Galva Pharmacy's leadership embracing AI technology will help improve patient safety and pharmacy productivity among independent pharmacies," said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices