GALLIPOLIS Early last week, health care patients in Gallia County became the first to enroll in a pilot program that officials hope will eventually be utilized by health care facilities throughout the nation to combat prescription drug abuse and improve patient safety. The program, being launched through a public-private partnership between regional health care provider Holzer Health System and CrossChx, a company based in Gallipolis, is known as the Biometric Enrollment and Verification Prescription System and will allow doctors to compare health records from multiple sources to help determine the eligibility of a patient to receive a prescription for medication. CrossChx (pronounced cross checks) will provide the technology to track health information and will, specifically, use biometrics, or the identification of an individual through his or her inherit traits in this case, fingerprints to allow prescribers to receive real-time patient information Continue reading →