Audacious Inquiry and Surescripts Partner to Provide Patient Medication History Data to Medical Response Personnel during Declared Disasters

BALTIMORE, Dec. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Audacious Inquiry (Ai), an industry leader in connected care, and Surescripts, the nation's leading health information network, are combining forces to improve patient care management during declared disasters by integrating patient medication history data into Ai's PULSE Enterprise, a platform that allows providers to access medical information for patients in times of emergency.

"Today the nation faces a global pandemic on the heels of a historically active hurricane season. As the COVID-19 response has made abundantly clear, the IT infrastructures of our emergency response and public health agencies are not well-equipped to handle these threats," said Scott Afzal, President of Audacious Inquiry. "PULSE Enterprise is a valuable tool for bringing critical information to the front lines of clinical response, and we are proud to partner with Surescripts to fill an existing gap in disaster medical care."

During emergencies such as hurricanes, pandemics, tornadoes, or terrorist attacks, impacted individuals and their families frequently receive medical care from providers or emergency response personnel outside their typical care network. PULSE Enterprise is a cloud-based software solution that allows electronic patient data to be viewed by providers in nonroutine healthcare settings such as medical shelters and quarantine sites and to public health authorities performing clinical case augmentation and epidemiological assessments. The application leverages the eHealth Exchange, the largest query-based national health information exchange network in the country, to display patient clinical histories to authorized medical providers in nontraditional healthcare settings, including special needs shelters, mobile field hospitals, and other alternate care sites.

"Most physicians already have access to complete and accurate patient medication history data when prescribing or during medication reconciliation," explained Ryan Hess, Vice President of Product Innovation at Surescripts. "However, during a natural disaster or other emergency, care providers need to deliver medications outside of normal care settings, and it could be a matter of life or death for critically ill patients who have been displaced and may have lost their medications or can't recall their medication list. As the nation's most trusted and capable health information network, we're proud of the work we've done to support care providers during emergencies and natural disasters over the past 20 years."

Patient medication history data is a critical addition to the product and will bring life-sustaining information to clinical response personnel during declared emergencies. Medication maintenance is one of the most common healthcare needs following disasters, and medication interruption for even a short period of time can be of great risk to people living with chronic conditions. Integration of Surescripts Medication History into PULSE Enterprise will enable emergency response personnel working in non-routine care settings to view patients' consolidated medication history lists during declared emergencies and reduce the opportunity for medical error or interruption in medication adherence.

PULSE Enterprise is the latest evolution of a PULSE technical solution first developed by Ai in 2014 in partnership with the California Emergency Medical Services Authority and with funding from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The PULSE platform was also recently adopted by the Texas Health Services Authority and has been integral to the state of California's response to the 2020 wildfires.

"Since its inception, the PULSE Initiative has aimed to enable more coordinated and effective care for individuals and communities affected by disasters and public health emergencies by ensuring that appropriately verified users have access to critical, life-sustaining information no matter the setting", said Elise Sweeney Anthony, Executive Director of ONC's Office of Policy. "ONC is proud to support the PULSE Initiative, and we are excited to see the innovation and growth of private sector PULSE technical solutions like the one developed through the partnership between Audacious Inquiry and Surescripts."

About Audacious Inquiry
Audacious Inquiry is a national industry-shaping health IT company that provides a connected care platform facilitating the secure transmission of actionable, accurate, and event-driven data across the U.S. healthcare system. Audacious Inquiry's pioneering software solutions help providers and care managers be proactive during the most important moments, including during transitions of care. This information helps at-risk providers and payers working within value-based arrangements reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.

With years of experience developing health data exchanges at the federal and state level, Audacious Inquiry is a trusted partner to health plans, health systems, Health Information Exchange Organizations, public health agencies, and federal, state, and local government agencies across the country. Audacious Inquiry's trusted solutions, which include its flagship Encounter Notification Service® (ENS) and the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies™ (PULSE), serve more than 60 million people nationwide. For more information, visit us at ainq.com, or follow us on Twitter at @A_INQ.

About Surescripts
Our purpose is to serve the nation with the single most trusted and capable health information network, built to increase patient safety, lower costs and ensure quality care. Since 2001, Surescripts has led the movement to turn data into actionable intelligence and convened the Surescripts Network Alliance® to enhance prescribing, inform care decisions and advance the healthcare industry. Visit us at surescripts.com and follow us at twitter.com/surescripts.

For more information, contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Audacious Inquiry

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