DrFirst Healthcare Innovations has partnered with Southlake Regional Health Centre in Ontario, Canada, to enhance the medication reconciliation process using AI-powered technology.

Leveraging DrFirst’s MedHx powered by SmartSuite, Southlake clinicians can access patients' prescription information from participating community pharmacies and the Ontario provincial drug information system.

The pilot programme resulted in a 64% reduction in time spent on medication reconciliation activities.

Besides, the AI solution demonstrated a 70% reduction in medication entry time and a 60% decline in data collection and patient interview time, in a study that was conducted in June 2023.

The technology integrates data from various sources, including the Digital Health Drug Repository, and employs AI to clean, standardise, and organise the information for use within the MEDITECH Expanse electronic health record (EHR) of Southlake.

Southlake Regional Health Centre pharmacy director Jennifer Daley-Morris said: “Access to electronic medication history data means patients are safer because medication reconciliation can be completed at hospital admission, instead of hours later after waiting for faxes and other vital pieces of information.

“We are already seeing tremendous improvements in efficiency and the patient experience.”

To further enhance medication history data and increase efficiency, DrFirst is collaborating with HealthChain, a medication management software provider based in Ontario, to enrol community pharmacies in the initiative.

HealthChain CEO Nick Zamora said: “Busy pharmacies benefit from this initiative because clinicians aren't interrupting pharmacy workflow with multiple faxes and inquiries to confirm patients' medication history.

“We are committed to connecting with all the pharmacies in the community to increase the value of this program for hospitals, pharmacies, and patients.”

The pilot results have led to plans to expand the programme to additional areas of the hospital.