Launched just a year ago this month, the Health Care Notification Network is a fast and easy way for physicians and their staff to receive important information regarding medication recalls, warnings and national public health emergencies. Once physicians sign up and their information is validated against the AMA database, physician staff may be added to the database to receive alerts.
From the HCNN webpage:
The Health Care Notification Network (HCNN) mission is to improve patient safety and protect the interests of consumers and healthcare providers. The HCNN will pursue its mission by delivering important patient safety alerts to providers securely online, in a manner that is faster, more efficient and more reliable than the current paper-based systems that typically use the U.S. mail. The HCNN is a free service for healthcare providers. Provider emails will be kept secure and not be sold or disclosed to other 3rd parties.
And, today, from the Medical Group Practice Association (MGMA), encouragement to get signed up with HCNN so as not to miss an important alert this week:
The Health Care Notification Network (HCNN) is scheduled to communicate an important prescribing alert this week. This online alert will be distributed via the HCNN in advance of traditional paper-based alerts to approximately 600,000 physicians, targeting the following specialties:
– Emergency Medicine
– Family Medicine
– General Practice
– Internal Medicine
– NeurologyUnregistered members can enroll to view this alert and other alerts at any time but will continue to receive paper-based alerts until they are registered for the HCNN.
Many medical societies, medical liability carriers, patient advocacy groups, and other health care industry organizations support HCCN “because it improves patient safety and decreases practice liability.” At some point in the future, medical liability carriers may offer discounts to their clients who are registered with HCNN.
