Pharmacy Interoperability Takes Center Stage in Joint Initiative Between The Sequoia Project and Surescripts
July 29 2024 - 8:00AM
The Sequoia Project, a non-profit and trusted advocate for
nationwide health information technology (health IT)
interoperability, today announced the launch of a new Pharmacy
Workgroup as part of its flagship Interoperability Matters program.
The Sequoia Project is building a community of practice
committed to fostering and broadening clinical interoperability for
pharmacies across the healthcare ecosystem, identifying practical
solutions to shared challenges for pharmacy clinical data exchange
to close gaps in pharmacy interoperability readiness and adoption,
and developing practical guidance to remove barriers to providing
clinical services at scale.
“Pharmacies are integral to the delivery of patient care and are
vital partners to achieve nationwide health information sharing,”
said Mariann Yeager, CEO of The Sequoia Project. “This community of
practice will bring together stakeholders to identify practical
solutions to shared challenges of data access and exchange.”
Data access and exchange challenges for the pharmacy community
were debuted to the broader interoperability community attending
Sequoia’s 2023 Annual Meeting. A featured panel explained the
urgency and opportunity of addressing these challenges. These
include the nation faces a primary care shortage, and patients are
diagnosed with chronic conditions more than ever before.
Pharmacists are trained to provide patient services as integrated
care team members, however, broader interoperability is needed to
help pharmacists fill the care gap as valuable resources.
Launching and growing the pharmacy community of practice is a
monumental undertaking for The Sequoia Project, made possible
through funding and collaboration with Surescripts.
“We are excited to collaborate with The Sequoia Project to help
expand health intelligence sharing to all clinicians, including
pharmacists, to help deliver good-quality, safe, and less costly
care for their patients,” explained Melanie Marcus, chief marketing
& customer experience officer at Surescripts. “As team-based
care expands and addresses access issues for patients across the
country, we must continue to advance health intelligence sharing to
achieve true interoperability that can help healthcare heal
itself.”
“We’re thrilled to see a growing interest across the healthcare
industry in solving interoperability challenges pertaining to the
integration of pharmacy data and clinical services to enhance
patient care,” said Tricia Lee Rolle, Pharm D, MS, PhD, senior
advisor, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. “We look
forward to reviewing the insights developed and shared by this new
community that seek to advance standards-based approaches to data
sharing.”
The Pharmacy Workgroup will be launched in January 2025 and will
be co-chaired by Marcus and Pooja Babbrah, practice lead, pharmacy
and PBM services at Point-of-Care Partners. A steering committee is
underway to lay the groundwork for the community of practice over
the coming months. In addition to the co-chairs, the steering
committee includes Meg Murphy, PharmD, pharmacy & regulatory
affairs manager at Surescripts, Kevin Nicholson, R.Ph., JD, vice
president of policy, regulatory, and legal affairs at the National
Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and Lisa Schwartz, PharmD,
senior director, professional affairs at the National Community
Pharmacists Association (NCPA).
Organizations committed to evolving the care team by improving
pharmacy interoperability can now register to join the Pharmacy
Workgroup. For more information, contact The Sequoia Project at
InteropMatters@Sequoiaproject.org
About The Sequoia Project
The Sequoia Project is a non-profit, 501c3, public-private
collaborative chartered to advance implementation of secure,
interoperable nationwide health information exchange. The Sequoia
Project focuses on solving real-world interoperability challenges
and brings together public and private stakeholders in forums such
as the Interoperability Matters cooperative to overcome barriers.
The Sequoia Project serves as the Recognized Coordinating Entity
(RCE) for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s
Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), for which
it will develop, implement, and maintain the Common Agreement
component of TEFCA and operationalize the Qualified Health
Information Network (QHIN) designation and monitoring
process. Visit us at SequoiaProject.org and follow us on
X (@SequoiaProject) and LinkedIn.
About Surescripts
Our purpose is to serve the nation through simpler, trusted
health intelligence sharing, in order to increase patient
safety, lower costs and ensure quality care. At
Surescripts, we align healthcare organizations across the
nation and convene the Surescripts Network
Alliance® to give healthcare professionals the trusted
insights they need to serve patients. Together, we’re making
interoperability an everyday reality, making it simpler to choose
medications patients can afford and adhere to, and getting
specialty medications to patients more efficiently. Visit us
at surescripts.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Contacts:
Dawn Van
Dyke |
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Ivy
Eckerman |
The Sequoia Project |
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Spire Communications |
dvandyke@sequoiaproject.org |
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ieckerman@spirecomm.com |
703.864.4062 |
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540-373-2963 |
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Kate Giaquinto |
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Surescripts |
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Kate.Giaquinto@surescripts.com |
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