Up and Comers

“Our position is, physicians should be connected and able to pass information freely back and forth,” says DrFirst's President, Cameron Deemer. “We plan to take a very broad-based low-cost approach to this.” The company has an expanding product line, as well as a customer base that ranges from small practices and physician groups to large hospitals. Its product development strategy has been to fill gaps in the product offerings of other EMR vendors. Its solutions are SaaS-based, offering a flexible platform so that solutions can be configured for variously sized practices, Deemer says.

DrFirst has created a technology platform that allows other vendors to incorporate its solutions easily into their applications, Deemer says. As of March, the company counted 160 EMR vendors as its partners that use DrFirst as their back-end e-prescribing technology. The vendor relationship serves as a modular approach for physicians to move gradually into a full-blown EMR system. When a physician customer is ready, DrFirst can help facilitate the move to any of its partners, Deemer says.

The company's e-prescribing solution, Rcopia, continues to see strong demand, which is largely driven by the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) requirements, according to Deemer. Nonetheless, the company has expanded beyond the boundaries of its original product with solutions that are geared to helping physicians make a successful transition to meaningful use. E-prescribing is required of every software vendor to attain certification, Deemer notes.

Last year the company added Rcopia Meaningful Use, a certified modular EHR that is combined with a patient registry (provided by WellCentive, Atlanta). “With this product the physician can meet all 25 Stage 1 meaningful use criteria, core items plus menu items,” Deemer says. He describes the product as a low-cost approach to acquiring an EMR, allowing the physician to understand the benefits of meaningful use and to begin to modify his workflow.

The company's latest addition is an e-prescribing solution for controlled substances, the outgrowth of a pilot program with the Massachusetts Department of Health. The solution, EPCS Gold, has been available to its vendor partners since March, and the company is making it available to physicians this month.

Future plans include the development of a clinical data exchange platform that will allow secure messaging “based on the company's core competency around security and privacy,” Deemer says, adding that the service will be available this month or next month. He adds that while this and other company initiatives are centered on Continuity of Care Records and Continuity of Care Documents, the company is also trying to broaden the types of information that are able to be exchanged, to better mesh with physician workflows.

In February, DrFirst acquired AdherenceRX, a supplier of behavioral health coaching and medication adherence solutions, which Deemer says will form the basis of DrFirst's new Patient Innovation division. The platform will be around clinical systems that are relevant to patients, including evidence-based solutions, medication e-reminders, patient education, incentives and caregiver support, according to the company. Deemer adds that the division will “give partner vendors access to pharmaceutical companies and the programs that would be beneficial to everyone in the process.”