South Dakota Ag Connection - ePharmacy Network Benefits from USDA Grant

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ePharmacy Network Benefits from USDA Grant
South Dakota Ag Connection - 09/23/2016

USDA Rural Development South Dakota Acting State Director Bruce Jones announced Thursday that Avera Health has been selected to receive grant funds for the purchase of telemedicine equipment that will enhance Avera's ePharmacy network. USDA Rural Development Multi-Family Housing Director Trace Davids and Rural Utilities Service General Field Representative Patrick Hemen were on-site to present the award.

Jones shared that Avera Health will receive $494,518 through USDA's Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program.

The DLT program is designed specifically to meet the educational and health care needs of Rural America. Through loans, grants and loan/grant combinations, advanced telecommunications technologies provide enhanced learning and health care opportunities for rural residents.

"This program delivers educational and medical opportunities that are needed in rural areas," said Jones. "These funds will ensure that residents of rural South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota have access to the same medical resources that are available to residents in larger cities."

The funding will be used to integrate 18 rural, under-staffed hospitals with Avera's ePharmacy network. A pharmacist will provide prescription review and pharmacy support 24 hours a day. An automated dispensing machine will be deployed at each hospital to reduce medication errors and to improve patient safety. The project will serve Bon Homme, Charles Mix, Grant, Gregory, Hand, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Lincoln, Minnehaha, and Moody Counties in South Dakota; Plymouth and Sioux counties in Iowa; Knox county in Nebraska; and Hutchinson and Pipestone counties in Minnesota.

"The Joint Commission and federal and state governments require that a pharmacist read and review all prescriptions before they reach the patient. But many rural hospitals aren't in compliance -- and patients are at risk. Through Avera's ePharmacy program, small hospitals can ensure that the right medication is getting to the right patient at the right time," said Rachael Sherard, Senior Vice President of Rural Health Services for Avera Health. "Without grant funding from the USDA, this would not be possible."

Funding for this award is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of their grant agreement.

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