GHP February 2017

32 GHP / February 2017 , 1612GH14 Leading the Way in Healthcare Technology Tabula Rasa HealthCare (NASDAQ: TRHC) is a leader in providing patient-specific, data- driven technology and solutions that enable healthcare organisations to optimise medication regimens to improve patient outcomes, reduce hospitalisations, lower healthcare costs and manage risk. We profile the firmand its President Orsula V. Knowlton, recently awarded President of the Year, New Jersey, who outlines her role in the firm’s success in her ownwords. TRHC is the first medication risk management company to focus nationally on Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). The company provides medication management and pharmacy services with a focus on reducing medication- related risk while enhancing healthcare outcomes. Specifically, TRHC and its subsidiaries specialise in healthcare technology, geriatric pharmacotherapy, adherence- packaging prescription fulfilment, risk-adjustment to optimise reimbursement for providers, maintaining regulatory compliance, and optimising pharmacotherapy spend. Orsula, who co-founded TRHC to transform the current medication delivery system, draws on over 24 years of industry experience, having been in the vanguard of enhancing the role of pharmacy and pharmacists in healthcare since graduating in 1993 with a post-Bachelor of Pharmacy, Doctorate in Pharmacy. She proudly discusses the factors which set TRHC apart from the competition and mark it as a pioneer in this competitive and dynamic market. “Thanks to our wonderful team here at TRHC, we are the only company delivering medication safety solutions using cutting-edge science of pharmacogenomics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacokinetics. Our suite of software solutions provides prescribers, pharmacists and healthcare organisations with sophisticated and innovative tools to better manage the medication-related needs of patients. We believe we offer the first prospective clinical approach to medication risk management, which is designed to increase patient safety by reducing multi-drug adverse drug events and promote adherence to a patient’s personalised medication regimen. “Our products and services are built around our proprietary Medication Risk Mitigation Matrix® and cloud-based software applications, including EireneRx® and MedWise Advisor®. Our software applications help reduce adverse drug events, enhance medication adherence and quality of care and improve medication safety at the individual patient level.” “In addition, our technology- driven approach to medication risk mitigation represents an evolution from prevailing non- personalised approaches that primarily rely on single drug- to- drug interaction analysis. TRHC’s products and services enable simultaneous analyses of multi-drug prescriptions and provide pertinent medication decision support. This results in optimisation of a patient’s medication regimen, by personalising medication selection, dosage levels, time-of- day administration and reducing the total medication burden.” These achievements are particularly vital, as 4.3 billion prescriptions filled in the US in 2014 made medication treatment the most common medical intervention. Imprecise use of medication represents the fourth leading cause of death and contributes to an estimated 45 to 50 million adverse drug events (ADEs) annually. ADEs result in approximately 125,000 hospitalisations, one million emergency room visits, two million affected hospital stays and 3.5 million physician office visits every year. As such, TRHC’s goal is to improve health by advancing safety in medicine. Orsula talks us through the vast array of contributions she has made to this ambitious but vital aim. “Since inception, TRHC has been dedicated to improving the safety of medication and reducing adverse drug events. Today, our technology-driven approach to medication risk management is a ‘game changer’ from prevailing non-personalised approaches. “In addition to helping set new standards for medication therapy management, I have tried to contribute to the healthcare industry by authoring, or co- authoring, three book chapters in three different clinical and professional healthcare books, more than 17 journal articles and 7 research posters or research study publications. I have delivered more than 100 educational training certificate programs and state/national professional association meeting presentations.”