The Baystate Medical Center (BMC) in Massachusetts leveraged an EHR integration. The main goal of this integration is to reduce the postoperative use of opioids through clinical decision support that is interoperable.
Issues with the postoperative use of opioids
The use of opioids has many risks for the patient, per the HL7 case study that summarizes the Medical Center’s recent clinical decision support (CDS) project. The study revealed interesting insights about the effects of reducing total opioid morphine usage after post-operation. It has the benefits of a decrease in the length of hospital stay, reduction in costs, and reduced risk of opioid dependency.
In-hospital opioid usage is difficult since it requires care team members to sift through multiple Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software data sources. Opioid comes in different forms which makes monitoring them a laborious task.
Baystate Medical Center Collaborates with health IT vendor
BMC joined hands with health IT vendor, Elimu Informatics to build a SMART FHIR application. The powerful app is inserted into the medical center’s Cerner EHR software system to help physicians in the effective monitoring of patient opioid usage.
Features of Sapphire Opioid MME Monitor App
- Embeds directly into the workflow without the need for user registration.
- SMART on FHIR enabled.
- All the data is available on one platform.
- Intuitive design
Benefits of Opioid MME Monitor app for BMC
The Sapphire Opioid MME app will make it simple for clinicians at Baystate Medical center to track and monitor daily opioid administration. The app works seamlessly with both Cerner EMR and Epic EMR software solutions. The app offers instant awareness of a patient’s opioid utilization and contributing factors. It also allows the care team members to view opioid orders and to administer total MMEs efficiently.
How does the app work?
Opioids come in various forms such as tablets, injectables, and different potencies. The intake of opioids can only be monitored once these are converted to morphine milligram equivalent (MME). The process could take up to 10 minutes for each patient. But with the robust app, it can happen in seconds as it embeds seamlessly into the EMR software without the need for a login.
All the data is in one place, and the app displays the MME trend interactively. The MME trend line can help clinicians plot surgical procedures by MMEs and also makes the provider mindful of any opportunities to reduce opioids. Ultimately the app will result in time savings and reduce the risk of opioid dependency and offers a clear picture of opioid management and monitoring to the center’s outpatient practices.
The MME app is used by the cardiac surgery service and pharmacists at Baystate Medical Center during encounters with roughly 25 patients every week. Almost 10% of cardiac surgery patients with opioids discharge with an opioid dependency. The health IT vendor has developed the app to effectively tamper the patient’s opioid utilization down from the day they get done with surgery till the time they are ready to go back home.
