High-Tech Tools Help Hospitals Manage Clinical Workflow and Enhance Patient Care

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile technology leaders ePocrates, Inc. and MercuryMD, Inc. announced today at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference and exhibition an agreement that enables the integration of MercuryMD's MData(R) Enterprise System with ePocrates Rx(R) and ePocrates Rx Pro(TM) drug reference applications.

"By combining MData with the ePocrates drug reference and formulary applications, healthcare professionals can now launch into the ePocrates drug database directly from a patient's medication list, and access their hospital's unique drug formulary directly from their mobile device -- all while in the context of a specific patient," said Alan Ying, CEO of MercuryMD. "This partnership will save healthcare professionals' valuable time by eliminating the need to separately look up hospital-approved drugs and by reducing extra data entry."

Additionally, MercuryMD will promote the ePocrates Internet-based, fully integrated hospital clinical reference and formulary application, ePocrates Rx Online(TM) + AHFS(R) DI. This application -- developed in partnership with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) -- allows hospitals to integrate their formulary information with the user-friendly ePocrates Rx Online(TM) application, and the authoritative drug reference AHFS Drug Information, resulting in a single, comprehensive database.

MercuryMD's mobile solution is deployed in over 40 U.S. hospital systems representing over 115 hospitals. The company's MData(R) Enterprise System integrates patient data from a hospital's existing information systems and securely delivers patient information -- such as census lists, demographics, laboratory results, diagnostic reports, medication lists, consults, and other transcribed reports -- directly to clinicians' handheld devices in an intuitive, easy-to-use format.

"Joining with MercuryMD furthers our focus on providing objective, accurate, concise and relevant clinical reference information created specifically for use at the point of care," said Andrew Burns, ePocrates vice president of health services. "With this collaboration, not only can hospitals manage their clinical workflow but also enhance the delivery of patient care. Access to up-to-date drug information can improve patient safety by helping health care professionals avoid dangerous adverse drug events."

Over 350,000 physicians, pharmacists and other health care professionals currently subscribe to a version of ePocrates Rx(R). The ePocrates Rx Pro(TM) premium handheld drug reference application features over 3,000 conventional drug monographs, an alternative medicine database and interactions guide; the built-in MultiCheck(R) function that allows the user to simultaneously check up to 30 drugs for interactions across both ethical and alternative medications; the ePocrates ID(R) infectious disease guide; clinical tables and guidelines; and the MedMath(TM) calculator with over 30 of the most commonly used medical equations.

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