Sequoia Project launches pharmacy interoperability workgroup

The Sequoia Project, a nonprofit advocate for nationwide health IT interoperability, has launched a pharmacy workgroup as part of its Interoperability Matters program.

The community of practice, which will officially launch in January 2025, aims to identify solutions for pharmacy interoperability gaps to drive patient-centered care.

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

Improved pharmacy interoperability could help address challenges across the industry as the country faces a primary care shortage and patients are diagnosed with chronic conditions more than ever before.

Pharmacists are trained to deliver services as integrated care team members. However, improved information exchange processes are needed to ensure pharmacists have access to patient data.

The Sequoia Project launched the pharmacy workgroup through funding and collaboration with health IT vendor 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," said Melanie Marcus, chief marketing and 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," Marcus said.

The Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC), formally ONC, will review the workgroup's insights.

"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, PharmD, MS, Ph.D., ASTP/ONC senior advisor. "We look forward to reviewing the insights developed and shared by this new community that seeks to advance standards-based approaches to data sharing."

Marcus will co-chair the workgroup alongside Pooja Babbrah, practice lead of pharmacy and pharmacy benefit management services at health IT consulting firm Point-of-Care Partners.

The Sequoia Project will develop a steering committee for the community of practice in the coming months.

In addition to the co-chairs, the steering committee includes the following members:

• Meg Murphy, PharmD, pharmacy and regulatory affairs manager at Surescripts.
• Kevin Nicholson, RPh, JD, vice president of policy, regulatory and legal affairs at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
• Lisa Schwartz, PharmD, senior director of professional affairs at the National Community Pharmacists Association.

Organizations looking to join the pharmacy workgroup can contact [email protected] for more information.

Hannah Nelson has been covering news related to health information technology and health data interoperability since 2020.