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Chelsea Richwine

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Chelsea Richwine's Latest Blog Posts

Physicians have Widespread Access to State PDMP Data, but Data Sharing Varies Across States

Chelsea Richwine | April 6, 2023

A recent ONC blog post showed physicians have widespread access to data from their state’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). According to a 2021 national survey of office-based physicians, more than three-quarters of physician prescribers reported checking the PDMP prior to prescribing controlled substances to a patient for the first time. Prescriber use laws and ongoing efforts to integrate electronic health record (EHR) systems with state PDMPs likely contributed to high levels of PDMP use among physicians.

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Flipping the Script: Leveraging EHR Data to Inform Clinical Burden Reduction Approaches

Chelsea Richwine | February 6, 2023

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a strategy to reduce regulatory and administrative burden relating to the use of health IT, including electronic health record (EHR) systems. Key burden reduction goals addressed in the report include reducing the amount of time and effort required to record information in EHRs to meet regulatory requirements and improving the usability of EHRs.

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Evidence on the Growing Use of Health IT to Address the Opioid Epidemic

Chelsea Richwine | January 19, 2023

In the midst of a growing drug overdose crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians’ use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS) technology is critical to improving opioid prescribing practices, informing treatment decisions, and supporting safe and effective patient care. Recent efforts, such as mandating use of EPCS technology and integrating PDMPs into electronic health record (EHR) systems, aim to improve prescribing practices by increasing the utility of information contained in PDMPs and decreasing prescription diversion and doctor shopping.

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APIs for Research: Perspectives from App Developers and Data Integrators

Chelsea Richwine | June 13, 2022

In ONC’s “App Developer and Data Integrator Perspectives” report [PDF – 511 KB] (Perspectives Report) – the third in the “Accelerating APIs” report series – we assess the current landscape of API-based health information exchange in a rapidly evolving electronic health data ecosystem. Perspectives of app developers and data integrators are presented to understand the emerging landscape of technology companies and their role in effective data aggregation, integration, and exchange.

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