Why Wooster Community Hospital chose to Implement EPCS, and why you should too

As the Manager of Information Systems at Wooster Community Hospital with 14 years of healthcare IT experience, Eric Gasser is no stranger to what tools are needed to help a hospital run smoothly. Wooster Community Hospital has used Imprivata OneSign for SSO, access control, and e-signing in MEDITECH since 2010, and recently implemented Imprivata Confirm ID for Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS). In a recent webinar, Eric described why he and his team decided to implement EPCS, and how they were able to do it.

Why EPCS?

  • Abuse of prescription drugs contributes to more than 23,000 deaths in the U.S. annually
  • More Americans die from overdoses on prescription drugs than from cocaine and heroin combined
  • It prevents “doctor shopping” for pills and reduces drug diversion and fraud
  • It eliminates the need for two separate workflows for controlled substances and non-controlled substances
  • It is compliant with new DEA regulations

Aside from its societal benefits, Eric highlighted how EPCS can directly benefit the patient.
With only one workflow needed for controlled and uncontrolled substances, EPCS is a single, convenient way for patients to get all of their medication from their pharmacy of choice, without needing to wait for their prescription to be filled. It was important to Eric that he was able to accomplish all of these goals while providing his physicians with the best tools available, and making it as easy as possible for them to adopt the new system.

What steps were taken?

  1. Wooster Community Hospital researched which technology could integrate seamlessly into their current workflow
  2. They made sure each option offered DEA-approved Two Factor Authentication systems that were available to them within MEDITECH
  3. They pinpointed their three available solutions, which offered a variety of options for multi-factor authentication for their providers

Using a combination of products including Imprivata Confirm ID, Eric and his team were able to create an EPCS system at Wooster Community Hospital that saved time, was easy for physicians to use, increased prescription accuracy and quality, and improved the overall experience for patients.