Cardinal Health launches infusion room management tool for community rheumatologists

Cardinal Health, Inc.Jan 7 2012

Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions today launched InfusaTrack^™, a Web-based infusion room management tool that makes it easier for community rheumatology practices to offer in-office infusion therapy services to patients.

Infusion therapy involves the administration of medication through a needle or catheter, and is usually prescribed when a patient's chronic condition is so severe that it cannot be treated effectively by oral medications. Infusion therapy services are usually more cost-effective and convenient for patients when offered at community rheumatology clinics instead of hospitals. However, administrative and other burdens often make that a challenge.

Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions' new InfusaTrack tool alleviates many of those burdens, ultimately making it easier for community rheumatology practices to offer patients in-office infusion services.  The tool tracks inventories of infused medications, simplifies the process of scheduling patient infusion visits and streamlines the billing process associated with infusion.

"As new breakthrough treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis and other rheumatic diseases lead to an increased demand for infusion therapy, we're also seeing an increasing need for tools that help community practices streamline the complicated process of offering this important service to patients," said Dr. Norman Gaylis, FACP, FACR, managing partner of Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease Specialists in Aventura, Fla. "Developed by physicians and practice managers, InfusaTrack addresses this growing need. It's the best available tool to help rheumatologists improve efficiency, revenue capture and patient care in the infusion suite."

Key features of InfusaTrack include:

• The tool is easy to use, and allows practice administrators to quickly add users and physicians. Patients can be uploaded individually or 'in bulk,'  and the tool can also be customized to multiple office locations.
• It uses data, collected during the dispensing process, to automatically generate invoices that include office visit codes, auto-calculated infusion time codes, auto-calculated billing units, modifiers and HCPCS codes (which are used to describe and bill medical, surgical and diagnostic procedures). Users can print a report from InfusaTrack to be handed to the biller for easy charge entry. Users can also electronically share the information with the office practice management system.
• The tool streamlines specialty pharmacy orders and prior authorizations into one area, allowing practices to more easily track medications from the point of order to patient administration.
• It allows administrators to enter alerts to notify the infusion room of outstanding co-payment or insurance challenges, so they can be addressed and resolved with the patient.
• It is hosted through a secure online web portal, so practices do not need to install any software. 

"We know that when patients can receive infused medications in a community setting, all players in the health care system win. Patients receive personalized, convenient care. The long-term viability of community rheumatologists can be strengthened and the broader health care system benefits by lowered health care costs," said Roshan Girglani, vice president and general manager of Rheumatology for Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions. "We're excited to launch InfusaTrack because we believe it will ultimately empower physicians to deliver better, more cost-effective care to their patients."