Why Accredo stands out
In specialty pharmacy, speed, accuracy, and seamless communication make all the difference. Especially when patients are managing complex, chronic, or rare conditions. That’s where Accredo leads. Unlike traditional models that rely on slow, error-prone manual processes, Accredo helps bridge the gap between prescribers, pharmacists and patients through real-time EMR connectivity and streamlined workflows. This allows for improved prescription accuracy, faster prescription approvals, and more timely medication delivery – especially critical for patients managing rare, complex, or chronic conditions.
Accredo delivers better business outcomes with automated EMR capabilities vs manual prescription workflows:
- 2-day reduction in prescription processing time
- 32% improvement in gaps in care
Plans that don’t partner with a specialty pharmacy offering EMR integration face an increased risk in errors, delays in treatment initiation, low and non-adherence, lower patient satisfaction, inferior patient outcomes, and higher administrative costs. In fact, the 2021 CAHQ Index estimated that switching to automated prior authorizations (a process made possible by EMR connectivity) could yield a savings opportunity of $437 million annually.
One EMR integration analysis found that 62% of respondents reported less time on phone calls and faxes. That same analysis reported a 69% reduction in the time between the authorization request and a decision from the health plan. Minimizing delays in approvals leads to faster specialty prescription processing, so patients get their medications as soon as possible.
Accredo’s integrated EMR capabilities are helping drive health care forward
Accredo started offering EMR integration in 2019. Since then, we have continued to enhance and expand our capabilities — today, Accredo is using EMR connectivity at scale as part of our standard clinical care model, and we anticipate 800,000–1,000,000 transactions this year. Our network includes the majority of the most widely used EMRs (e.g., Epic, Cerner, Allscripts etc.), enabling us to reach over 80% of our patients we support.
Our innovation roadmap going forward includes leveraging FHIR standards and exploring AI capabilities to further improve the efficiency of these connections and address more complex data extraction challenges, such as incorporating progress notes and other insights from prescriber narratives.
Accredo's position, , allows us to integrate EMR data into the Evernorth patient record, which can then be used by other areas of the organization for HIPAA-authorized used cases and to share data with payers, providing enhanced continuity of care for patients, while also improving cost reduction and efficiency on both the plan and pharmacy sides of the business.
Key use cases for Accredo automated EMR capabilities
Prescription processing
Accredo automatically captures relevant clinical information upon receiving a prescription to inform clinical management of the patient’s therapy, including:
- Latest height and weight: To determine weight-based dosing
- Active problem list: To determine the indication of the prescription and any contraindicated comorbidities
- List of known allergies: To prevent adverse reactions
- Latest lab results: To guide medication dosing based on lab values where applicable.
EMR impact for weight-based dosing drugs
- EMR data extraction revealed 12% of patients had a weight change of at least 10%, allowing pharmacists to review the opportunity to optimize dosing for better efficacy.
PA facilitation
Accredo’s EMR interoperability allows us to provide clinical data elements related to PA, enabling Evernorth to auto-answer PA questions. This includes the latest progress notes and clinical summaries for clinicians to review. This also enables Accredo clinicians to better facilitate collaborative PA efforts. These efforts significantly reduce the administrative burden of PA for prescribers' offices, sometimes eliminating the need for health care providers to complete a PA form entirely.
EMR impact on PA facilitation:
- 4-day average reduction in PA decision turnaround time
- 7-day average reduction in PA decision turnaround time for more complex therapies (e.g., infused medications, etc.)
Improved communication between prescribers and specialty pharmacists allows providers to quickly identify and proactively address patient safety and non-adherence risks, leading to better patient outcomes. For high-cost, high-touch specialty prescriptions - many of which require special handling and administration - this extra layer of communication ensures that pharmacists have the information they need to properly educate patients about their prescriptions and help them maintain their treatment plans. In addition, EMR connectivity expedites the PA process to help patients get faster access to their new treatment. Minimizing patient frustration and providing timely access to specialty therapies is crucial to helping patients manage their treatment programs effectively.
Selecting the right specialty pharmacy partner is a critical decision for every health plan. Specialty pharmacies like Accredo, which offer EMR connectivity as part of their standard care model, can help health plans improve time to care, patient experience, health outcomes, and operational cost savings. With a demonstrated 2-day reduction in prescription processing time and a 32% improvement in gaps in care, the advantages of EMR integration are clear. As we continue to enhance our capabilities and explore new technologies, Accredo remains committed to driving health care forward and delivering superior outcomes for patients and providers alike.
