Technology’s Key Role in Preventing Opioid Abuse

At DrFirst, we believe that technology should play a key role in the prevention of opioid abuse. Today, doctors are frequently forced to prescribe without complete information on the medications their patients are taking. This makes it difficult for physicians to support patients adequately, and makes it much more challenging to spot patients who are addicted to opioids or at risk for such addiction.

The key is improving provider visibility into patient drug histories through the use of a range of medication history sources to give doctors the most complete picture of their patients. This includes medication history from payers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), and, where available, data from local pharmacies.

By using technology to arm physicians at the point of e-prescribing, we can better support physicians at the front end to prevent addiction from the start. By empowering prescribers through the use of technology, we give them the necessary tools to identify at-risk patients so that they can provide appropriate intervention early, helping to avoid addiction in the first place.

For the last 17 years, DrFirst has been developing solutions to address the opioid crisis and other healthcare challenges. To learn more, click here.