# DrFirst **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/drfirst **Vertical:** Healthcare Revenue Cycle & Health IT **Subcategory:** E-Prescribing & Medication Management **Tier:** Challenger **Website:** drfirst.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary E-prescribing, medication history, and patient safety platform processing hundreds of millions of Rx transactions annually. Rockville MD; founded 2000; embedded in hundreds of EHR and clinical workflow platforms; EPCS compliance and medication history retrieval improve prescribing safety for 500K+ providers. ## Company Overview DrFirst is a health IT company that has been at the forefront of e-prescribing and medication management since its founding in 2000. Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, DrFirst provides e-prescribing for controlled substances (EPCS), medication history retrieval, clinical decision support, and patient medication adherence tools to hospitals, physician practices, long-term care facilities, and health IT vendors. The company processes hundreds of millions of prescription transactions annually and is embedded in a wide range of EHR and clinical workflow platforms through its APIs and SDK integrations.\n\nDrFirst's flagship EPCS solution was among the earliest to achieve DEA compliance for electronic prescribing of controlled substances, a capability that has become essential as regulatory requirements and clinical adoption have expanded across all states. The company's medication history service aggregates pharmacy and payer claims data to give providers a more complete view of a patient's actual medication use, supporting medication reconciliation at transitions of care and reducing adverse drug events. DrFirst also offers Backline, a secure clinical communication platform for care team messaging.\n\nDrFirst occupies a specialized but critical position in the health IT ecosystem, providing medication-related infrastructure that EHR vendors embed in their platforms rather than build independently. This embedded model gives DrFirst broad distribution across the provider market and creates sticky, long-term customer relationships. The company has invested in expanding its clinical intelligence capabilities, including AI-driven prior authorization for specialty medications and smart alerts that surface relevant clinical guidance at the point of prescribing. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is DrFirst's EPCS solution and why is it important? DrFirst's EPCS (Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances) solution enables clinicians to prescribe Schedule II-V medications electronically in compliance with DEA requirements, eliminating paper prescriptions for controlled substances and reducing diversion and fraud risks. ### How does DrFirst's medication history service work? DrFirst aggregates medication fill history from pharmacy benefit managers, retail pharmacies, and payer claims data to provide providers with a comprehensive view of what medications a patient has actually filled, supporting accurate medication reconciliation at care transitions. ### How does DrFirst distribute its technology to providers? DrFirst primarily distributes through embedded integrations within EHR platforms, hospital information systems, and health IT applications, providing APIs and SDKs that enable other vendors to offer DrFirst-powered e-prescribing and medication management capabilities within their own products. ### What is DrFirst and what healthcare technology does it provide? DrFirst is a healthcare technology company specializing in e-prescribing, medication management, and prior authorization solutions. The company's platform connects prescribers, pharmacies, health systems, and patients to streamline the medication prescribing workflow, improve medication adherence, and reduce errors associated with traditional paper or phone-based prescribing. ### What is EPCS and how does DrFirst support it? EPCS stands for Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances, which allows physicians to prescribe controlled medications (like opioids and stimulants) electronically with DEA-compliant identity verification and digital signatures. DrFirst has been a leader in EPCS adoption, providing the identity proofing, two-factor authentication, and pharmacy integration needed to comply with DEA regulations for electronic controlled substance prescriptions. ### What is DrFirst's Backline secure messaging platform? Backline is DrFirst's HIPAA-compliant clinical communication platform that allows care teams to securely exchange messages, images, and patient information via smartphones. Backline is integrated with e-prescribing workflows so clinicians can discuss medication decisions and patient conditions in a secure environment that meets healthcare privacy requirements, replacing insecure consumer texting apps in clinical settings. ### How does DrFirst improve medication adherence? DrFirst's RxInform platform sends patients automated messages with information about their newly prescribed medications, including safety information, potential side effects, and adherence reminders. By educating patients about their medications at the time of prescribing, DrFirst aims to reduce first-fill abandonment (patients not picking up prescriptions they were given) and improve ongoing adherence to chronic medication regimens. ### What EHR integrations does DrFirst support? DrFirst is integrated with major EHR platforms including Epic, Cerner, Meditech, and others through both direct EHR partnerships and the Surescripts network. These integrations allow prescribers to e-prescribe directly from within their EHR workflow without switching to a separate application, ensuring high adoption and minimizing workflow disruption for clinical staff. ## Tags healthtech, saas, b2b, api-first, platform, enterprise, technology, services --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*