Emory Healthcare, an academic health system in Georgia, US, has partnered with healthcare technology company DrFirst to enhance patient medication adherence and affordability.

Emory Healthcare will make use of DrFirst's Fuzion platform to streamline its clinical processes.

The platform employs clinical-grade AI to provide comprehensive patient medication information, with the aims of reducing manual data entry, enhancing patient safety and saving time for clinicians and pharmacists.

It also offers prescription price transparency, enabling healthcare providers to access patients' pharmacy benefits and out-of-pocket costs.

This also helps promote medication adherence and cost-effective choices while reducing the likelihood of abandoning expensive prescriptions.

In addition, the upcoming automated messaging feature alerts patients when their clinicians prescribe them medication, allowing them to review prescription and pharmacy details while accessing educational information.

It will also enable them to identify potential cost savings and maintain HIPAA compliance.

Emory Healthcare pharmacy services vice-president Christy Norman said: “Managing multiple medications and cost considerations can be challenging for patients when dealing with a chronic condition or sudden illness.

“Having these additional solutions in place will help identify and manage the best medications for every patient’s individual health journey.”

DrFirst CEO Cameron Deemer said: “For many patients, especially those with chronic conditions, taking their medications as prescribed is vital to positive health outcomes and staying out of the hospital.

“Technology can help by making clinical data more usable, removing friction from workflows, which assists clinicians and patients to achieve better medication outcomes.”

Emory Healthcare comprises 11 hospitals, nearly 24,000 employees and 2,796 licensed patient beds.

It is supported by more than 3,450 physicians across 70 specialities, serving both metropolitan Atlanta and the wider Georgia region.

Emory offers services through a joint venture at St Francis–Emory Healthcare Hospital in Columbus, as well as through collaborations with ten regional affiliate hospitals, and its integrated physician network.