When form meets function: New platform automatically populates and distributes special meds forms

Who hates forms? Raise you hand! An Ontario health technology company has launched a digital platform to ease the burden of filling out medication-related forms for pharmacists, physicians and nurse practitioners. OkRx, based in Oakville, Ont., created a digital platform, called OkRx ProviderLink, which contains about 2,500 forms for submissions such as specialty drug prior authorization and patient support program enrollment. The platform integrates fully with pharmacy and EMR systems and pre-fills forms partly based on existing patient and healthcare provider information. Once the forms have been completed by the pharmacy, prescriber and patient, the system sends them automatically to the appropriate insurer or patient program. “We make it very easy for pharmacists because we connect to their pharmacy dispensing system, and there are a lot of elements that will facilitate the work they’re doing,” said John Leombruno, CEO of OkRx, which provides technology that centralizes pharmacy and physician workflow and information-sharing in one platform. “From the doctor’s side, their information and the patient’s information is also pre-filled, and all they need to do is sign it.” Read: A patient’s journey: Shedding light on the value of pharmacy services for Canadians taking high-cost specialty drugs Today, pharmacists who want to fill out patient support program enrolment or specialty drug prior authorization forms must first search the web for the appropriate form or see if they have it saved on their pharmacy computer. Filling out the form is usually a manual process, with the pharmacist typing the information into the various fields. The form must also be emailed to patient, drug plan holder and prescriber. “Tracking the responses to these emails can be challenging since there may be sections for the patient, plan holder and prescriber,” explained Leombruno. “After all the responses are collected, the pharmacist needs to send the form to the insurer, tracking the outcome and ultimately storing the form.” With OkRx ProviderLink, the system automatically searches for the right form from the dispense listing page, and the forms are generated already populated with the patient, prescriber and drug information. “And all the appropriate stakeholders are linked to the form to simplify getting information and signatures from them,” said Leombruno. “OkRx ProviderLink tracks all outbound requests and follows up on them automatically. OkRx Provider Link also allows users to send to the insurer, track the outcomes and provides a place to store all documentation in one single spot.” Read: Forms ‘kill’ family doctors Most prescription medication forms require the attention of multiple parties, added Leombruno, and healthcare providers are often forced to coordinate this administrative task on top of already heavy workloads. “For the same form you’ll typically have the patient, the plan holder, the insurance company, the pharmacist and the physician all working on that process, and when something happens that throws a wrench into that process—like someone omitting a required piece of information—that just messes it up for all those five groups,” he said. “It’s been interesting to see all the ways that people have kind of tackled this problem, like I’ve seen desks stacked with pre-signed forms.” OkRx ProviderLink is designed as a standalone platform that can be used, free of charge, by any pharmacy or prescriber in Canada. Pharmacists and doctors who want to sign up should visit www.okrx.ca and set up a free account. Those who want to integrate the platform with their pharmacy dispensing or EMR system can send a request to info@okrx.ca. Read: Forms, forms, everywhere a form

When form meets function: New platform automatically populates and distributes special meds forms

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics