OLYMPIA, WASH., February 5, 2007
DSHS Posts Medicaid Drug Information on Internet for Easy Access by Providers and Pharmacists
The Washington State Medicaid program and Epocrates Inc., a provider of clinical applications for health-care providers, have joined forces to put updates of Medicaid's authorized drug list on the program's website.
Accessing the Medicaid drug list
The updated list, which includes thousands of drugs, means physicians and pharmacists around the state can now look up current drug coverage information easily on their office computers at no cost. The feature supplements a service already available to Washington physicians via personal digital assistants, or PDAs.
Medicaid has always provided physicians with a list of covered drugs to use when prescribing new medication to Medicaid clients, but getting the information was not always convenient, and the list was difficult to update.
In 2002, Washington was the first Medicaid program to use Epocrates as a channel to electronically deliver its preferred drug list to clinicians. Having the information easily available on handheld devices represented a dramatic improvement for Medicaid health-care providers. Now the new Internet list is another handy way to get some of the same information.
The state's drug coverage information will be routinely updated in the Epocrates database so clinicians always have an up-to-date and convenient resource.
Because it is available on PDAs, the Epocrates system lets doctors check many aspects of prescription drugs right in the examining room. The PDA information even includes warnings about adverse drug interactions for patients taking more than one medication.
Some of that information – authorization requirement, drug name, dosage forms and strengths – will also be on the DSHS Internet site, available to anyone with a browser.
Epocrates provides similar service for a number of private health plans in Washington, including Premera Blue Cross, Regence BlueShield, Group Health Cooperative, Cigna, Providence, Aetna and KPS Health Plans.
Several other states – including Oregon, Vermont, California and Michigan – also have used the applications as part of their managed care coverage for Medicaid clients.
Physicians or other health-care professionals can visit www.epocrates.com to download the program to a handheld device or to get more information about how Epocrates works.
Epocrates is the largest handheld physician network in the world with more than half a million users nationally. Headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., Epocrates was founded in 1998.
Physicians who want to load the state's preferred drug list on their PDAs can simply visit the Epocrates website (www.epocrates.com), and download the drug lists they need.
Now much of the same information is posted on the Medicaid pharmacy website at http://maa.dshs.wa.gov/pharmacy. Any provider can find this list with the help of an Internet browser. Like the Epocrates site, there is no charge to the doctor.
CONTACTS: Jim Stevenson Communications Director, HRSA, DSHS PHONE: (360) 902-7604 E-MAIL: stevej@dshs.wa.gov WEB: www.dshs.wa.gov Erica Sniad Morgenstern Epocrates Public Relations PHONE: (650) 227-6907 E-MAIL: pr@epocrates.com WEB: www.epocrates.com