VANCOUVER – Telus Health has acquired electronic-prescription technology ZRx Prescriber from Quebec-based ZoomMed, making it the first Canadian healthcare technology company to offer insurance coverage validation nationally at the moment of prescription.
ZRx Prescriber is an intuitive web-based prescriber that allows physicians to use a mobile device to quickly and accurately write and deliver prescriptions for patients while accessing the patient's insurance coverage information directly at the moment of prescription. The technology will also allow physicians to prescribe within the patient's plan parameters when possible, speeding up the insurance claim and improving the patient's experience during the dispensing process.
This agreement, effective immediately, includes transferring affected ZoomMed Canadian employees to Telus Health, and will give Telus sole ownership of ZRx Prescriber and its IP in Canada.
The ZRx prescriber is currently used by 520 medical clinics in Quebec and Ontario to process 400,000 new drug prescriptions monthly, and Telus Health said that it plans to gradually integrate the technology into electronic medical records (EMR) used by more than 13,000 physicians across Canada.
“This acquisition builds upon our EMR leadership position and claims and benefits expertise, and allows us to have a more direct and positive impact on the patient experience, which ultimately leads to better health outcomes for Canadians," said Paul Lepage, president of Telus Health, in the announcement. "Medication management is a pain point in Canada's healthcare system as most processes in use today aren't automated, take longer to execute and are at a higher risk of error. By integrating innovative features from ZRx Prescriber into our already robust and secure EMR solution, we can facilitate better collaboration among healthcare providers, limit prescription errors, maintain customer confidentiality, reduce patient frustration and make the healthcare processes more accurate and efficient."
