Henry Ford’s PDMP-Epic Integration Saves 250 Clinician Hours a Month

Henry Ford Health System started using Epic integration with the Michigan Automated Prescription System in 2018 to show providers a patient’s previous opioid prescriptions when they order a Schedule II-V drug. Substances in this schedule have a high potential for abuse, which can lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. Henry Ford knew the new method would save time and clicks, but the integration has improved clinician experience even more than expected, reducing the time required for each Prescription Drug Monitoring Program check from two minutes to 20 seconds or less.

“We save around 250 hours per month of clinician time,” said Mary Griffin, a senior analyst at Henry Ford. “Our physicians love the new workflow.”

In the past, providers had to delegate the time-consuming task of checking the PDMP database to support staff. Now, they can easily check past prescriptions themselves during the encounter and see the results in real time.

Epic community members can learn more about implementing a similar program in the Opioid Management Strategy Handbook.