Park Shore Pharmacon Enters the Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR) Arena

 

EHR and eMAR: what’s the difference? Park Shore Pharmacon, a long term care pharmacy based in Hallandale Beach, FL, was faced with this very question about two years ago. Providing to over 200 assisted living facilities, group homes and skilled nursing facilities with pharmacy services, Park Shore needed to know how the pharmacy industry would eventually be involved with the new age of electronic records.

 

The term EHR, Electronic Health Records, emerged onto the healthcare scene in just a blink of an eye over the past three years. EHR is the all-encompassing term for a patient’s complete healthcare history in an electronic version. No longer will two different physicians have separate medical charts for one patient; now these physicians are able to share charts, creating a complete patient history. eMARs, or Electronic Medication Administration Records, are almost a subsection of the EHR world and represent the next big leap for long term care facilities and institutional pharmacies into the future. An eMAR contains digitized medication administration documentation; whereas, current practice is to manually document information on paper “med sheets”.

 

A brief overview of current practices illustrates how the pharmacy and long term care facility are intimately linked in the transition to eMARs. Presently, a nurse or staff member administers a medication or carries out a physician order, then she or he physically signs off with initials on the paper MAR. Many institutional pharmacies provide these paper MARs to the long term care facilities as part of pharmacy services, especially because pharmacies hold all residents’ medication orders in a pharmacy database. This process has worked efficiently for a long time, but like anything else, there is room for improvement.

When Park Shore recognized the impending transition to eMAR programs, the company embraced eMARs by 1) investing in state-of-the-art pharmacy software containing the HL7 Interface 2) researching third party eMAR companies for proven success history 3) building a program surrounding the new technology for contracted facilities. Park Shore’s current phase of the eMAR initiative is educating long term care facilities on eMAR options and procedure for transition to eMARs. The eMAR initiative requires a coordinated effort between the pharmacy, long term care facility and the eMAR company, as the internet-based eMAR program connects the facility and pharmacy through the HL7 Interface.

 

The process has unveiled vital awareness into the operations of all involved parties, which will ultimately improve the quality of services received by long term care residents. Decreasing med errors and improving resident safety is a top priority shared by providers and caregivers. Park Shore has provided for long term care facilities in Florida for over 25 years and looks forward to innovations that the eMAR initiative will bring to the long term care industry.

 

eMARs will bring the long term care industry one step closer to integrating with EHRs and other healthcare sectors. With careful planning and technology-based innovation, Park Shore will continue to lead its facilities and the community in the right direction.