Pharmacy Interoperability Takes Center Stage in Joint Initiative Between The Sequoia Project and Surescripts

VIENNA, Va., July 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Sequoia Project, a non-profit and trusted advocate for nationwide health information technology (health IT) interoperability, today announced the launch of a new Pharmacy Workgroup as part of its flagship Interoperability Matters program.

The Sequoia Project is building a community of practice committed to fostering and broadening clinical interoperability for pharmacies across the healthcare ecosystem, identifying practical solutions to shared challenges for pharmacy clinical data exchange to close gaps in pharmacy interoperability readiness and adoption, and developing practical guidance to remove barriers to providing clinical services at scale.

“Pharmacies are integral to the delivery of patient care and are vital partners to achieve nationwide health information sharing,” said Mariann Yeager, CEO of The Sequoia Project. “This community of practice will bring together stakeholders to identify practical solutions to shared challenges of data access and exchange.”

Data access and exchange challenges for the pharmacy community were debuted to the broader interoperability community attending Sequoia’s 2023 Annual Meeting. A featured panel explained the urgency and opportunity of addressing these challenges. These include the nation faces a primary care shortage, and patients are diagnosed with chronic conditions more than ever before. Pharmacists are trained to provide patient services as integrated care team members, however, broader interoperability is needed to help pharmacists fill the care gap as valuable resources.

Launching and growing the pharmacy community of practice is a monumental undertaking for The Sequoia Project, made possible through funding and collaboration with Surescripts.

“We are excited to collaborate with The Sequoia Project to help expand health intelligence sharing to all clinicians, including pharmacists, to help deliver good-quality, safe, and less costly care for their patients,” explained Melanie Marcus, chief marketing & customer experience officer at Surescripts. “As team-based care expands and addresses access issues for patients across the country, we must continue to advance health intelligence sharing to achieve true interoperability that can help healthcare heal itself.”

“We’re thrilled to see a growing interest across the healthcare industry in solving interoperability challenges pertaining to the integration of pharmacy data and clinical services to enhance patient care,” said Tricia Lee Rolle, Pharm D, MS, PhD, senior advisor, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. “We look forward to reviewing the insights developed and shared by this new community that seek to advance standards-based approaches to data sharing.”

The Pharmacy Workgroup will be launched in January 2025 and will be co-chaired by Marcus and Pooja Babbrah, practice lead, pharmacy and PBM services at Point-of-Care Partners. A steering committee is underway to lay the groundwork for the community of practice over the coming months. In addition to the co-chairs, the steering committee includes Meg Murphy, PharmD, pharmacy & regulatory affairs manager at Surescripts, Kevin Nicholson, R.Ph., JD, vice president of policy, regulatory, and legal affairs at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and Lisa Schwartz, PharmD, senior director, professional affairs at the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).

Organizations committed to evolving the care team by improving pharmacy interoperability can now register to join the Pharmacy Workgroup. For more information, contact The Sequoia Project at InteropMatters@Sequoiaproject.org

About The Sequoia Project

The Sequoia Project is a non-profit, 501c3, public-private collaborative chartered to advance implementation of secure, interoperable nationwide health information exchange. The Sequoia Project focuses on solving real-world interoperability challenges and brings together public and private stakeholders in forums such as the Interoperability Matters cooperative to overcome barriers. The Sequoia Project serves as the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), for which it will develop, implement, and maintain the Common Agreement component of TEFCA and operationalize the Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) designation and monitoring process. Visit us at SequoiaProject.org and follow us on X (@SequoiaProject) and LinkedIn.

About Surescripts

Our purpose is to serve the nation through simpler, trusted health intelligence sharing, in order to increase patient safety, lower costs and ensure quality care. At Surescripts, we align healthcare organizations across the nation and convene the Surescripts Network Alliance® to give healthcare professionals the trusted insights they need to serve patients. Together, we’re making interoperability an everyday reality, making it simpler to choose medications patients can afford and adhere to, and getting specialty medications to patients more efficiently. Visit us at surescripts.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

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