Centric Home Health & Hospice Advances Care Coordination with Backline, DrFirst's Secure Communication Platform

ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DrFirst, a nationally ranked provider of medication management and secure communications solutions, today announced that Centric Home Health & Hospice has successfully implemented Backline, DrFirst's secure messaging application that supports HIPAA and Joint Commission compliance for secure texting. Backline allows Centric's large mobile home health and hospice staff to deliver optimal patient care through efficient and secure communication and collaboration across onsite and remote clinical care teams, family members, and caregivers.

Rapid, real-time, and secure communication is critical for Centric's field staff who often must consult with team members to ensure patients receive timely and effective treatment. Relying on phone calls or getting access to an internet connection can lead to inefficiencies and treatment delays. Security is an especially high priority for the company because employees must exchange Protected Health Information (PHI), which cannot be sent through traditional communications such as email or text messages.

"Having most of our team providing care in a variety of locations created communication challenges that had to be overcome," said Jim Holloman, administrator at Centric. "Backline is the backbone of our company. I don't know how we would do business without it. It has connected our team, putting our patients at the center, in a way that was not possible before. Now, our providers are always up-to-date on changing conditions or transitions of care."

Enhanced collaboration and communication

Backline's ability to create patient-specific work groups has enhanced collaboration and communication between Centric's physicians and remote clinical staff. "For example, a CNA (certified nurse assistant) saw a patient recently," Holloman explained. "She sent a Backline message saying the patient seemed depressed. The assigned social worker saw the message, responded, and made an unscheduled visit that day to check on the patient. This allows Centric to provide a higher level of patient care while making it possible to expand its business into Oklahoma."

Increased productivity and laser-focused patient care

"Centric's successful Backline implementation is a testament to the organization's commitment to superb communication and the delivery of quality patient care," said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. "When team members are delivering care in the field, they need immediate, secure access to co-workers to collaborate on treatment or share critical patient information. I commend Centric for leveraging Backline to improve staff productivity and workflows so they can remain focused on patients—and providing the care that they deserve."

Backline allows users to quickly identify which co-workers are available to chat, as well as share patient-related audio, video, and photo files. One essential feature Centric uses is the ability to create multiple work groups within Backline for clinical and non-clinical communications. This includes a company-wide group for sharing personnel updates, weather-related warnings, organizational news, marketing updates, and new referrals. The emphasis on technology and collaboration has helped Centric recruit and retain top notch doctors and nurses.

As a result of using Backline, Centric's entire clinical and support staff can communicate across all locations, regardless of whether or not they are in the office. Backline meets the needs of the entire team with a desktop application for office-based staff and a mobile app for remote employees. This fosters ease-of-use, accessibility, and better collaboration.

To learn more about how Centric has achieved real-time, secure communication by adopting Backline, please click here.

About DrFirst
DrFirst, the nation's leading provider of e-prescribing and medication management solutions, enables stakeholders across the healthcare industry to intelligently use comprehensive real-time data and connectivity to increase their patient safety ratings, efficiency, and profitability. Today, more than 170,000 healthcare professionals and more than 60% of electronic health record vendors depend on DrFirst's innovative software solutions to improve clinical workflows, expedite secure collaboration across a patient's care team, and drive better health outcomes. The company's integrated technologies include its award-winning electronic prescribing platform, the most comprehensive medication history available, clinically specialized secure messaging, as well as patient medication adherence monitoring and benefits checking. In addition, DrFirst was the first to offer e-prescribing for controlled substances (EPCS), which is considered the industry standard for providers nationwide. For more information, please visit www.drfirst.com or connect with us @DrFirst.

DrFirst Media Contact:
Lisa Chernikoff
Amendola Communications
734-678-5513
[email protected]

SOURCE DrFirst

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