ECP Uses AI to Improve Medication Safety in Over 7,500 Senior Living Communities

Milwaukee, WI, May 2024 – ECP, a leading provider of software to over 7,500 senior living and other long-term care communities, announced the release of a suite of AI-powered tools to significantly improve medication safety and improve clinical outcomes for senior living residents.

ECP connects senior living communities in all 50 states to a network of over 500 long-term care pharmacies, providing real-time medication order information that is used by med passers to safely administer medications, a tool known as electronic medication administration records, or “eMAR”. ECP’s newly announced AI-powered tools represent a significant step forward in both eMAR innovation and medication safety.

”A typical senior in an assisted living community can be on a dozen or more medications, each with a different dose, route, and schedule. For larger communities, this can mean thousands of meds to pass in a single day. Even a single mistake can have potentially devastating consequences for a resident. ECP has worked closely with both our pharmacy and community partners to identify six different areas where AI can be used to help prevent medication errors and help residents in ECP communities enjoy healthier and happier lives,” said Carly Smith, Director of Product Management at ECP.

ECP's AI-powered medication safety features include:

1. Duplicate Medication Prevention: ECP’s software compares medication orders in real-time during the medication approval process, alerting staff of potential duplicate medications (e.g. if the same medication is added to a resident’s order list twice). This proactive approach reduces the risk of over-administration and associated adverse effects.
2. PRN Over-Dispensing Prevention: ECP's software analyzes medication administration patterns and resident data to alert med-passers when PRN medications are being administered too early. This safeguards against med errors by ensuring adherence to prescribed dosing schedules.
3. Auto-Identification of Controlled Substances, Psychotropics, and Hazardous Drugs: ECP automatically recognizes and classifies medications as controlled substances, psychotropics, and hazardous drugs, ensuring accurate documentation and compliance with regulatory standards.
4. Auto-Assignment of Med Classifications: ECP’s software automatically categorizes medications based on their classification (e.g. antibiotic, laxative, etc.) and attaches pre-defined questions, follow-ups, and alerts based on each classification, improving accuracy and consistency of med documentation.
5. Automation of Pharmacy Order Updates: ECP's software automates the process of updating pharmacy-sent medication orders, eliminating manual intervention and reducing the likelihood of out-of-date order information resulting in med errors.
6. Auto-Attachment of Necessary Vitals Prompts and Drug Information: ECP's software automatically attaches vitals prompts, pill images, descriptions, adverse reactions, boxed warnings, and other relevant drug information to pharmacy-sent orders. This approach ensures caregivers have access to essential information at the point of administration and helps them observe the eight med rights.

"ECP is excited to be leading the industry in intelligent methods of improving medication adherence and safety in senior living communities. In 2024, we're looking to continue expanding upon our rich feature set, utilizing AI as another line of defense to prevent thousands of medication-related errors each year," said James Baumeister, Product Manager at ECP.

While AI can help communities improve medication safety, the ultimate responsibility for safely passing medications ultimately falls on the community and the med passer. Communities interested in learning more should contact ECP.

About ECP:

ECP is a leading provider of eMAR, EHR, Billing, and CRM software to over 7,500 senior living communities, group homes, communities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and other long-term care settings across all 50 states. ECP’s mission is to build world-class software and to partner with senior living and long-term-care operators to make residents, family, and staff happy, and achieve best-in-class clinical, operational, and business outcomes.

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