According to a recent study by Cornell University’s school of medicine, an estimated 2.6 billion drugs are provided, prescribed or continued in the ambulatory setting. More importantly, the study found that health care providers using an electronic system to write prescriptions were seven times less likely to make errors than those writing their prescriptions by hand. None of us here at OA Systems went to Cornell, so you do the math!

So, should doctors around the country use e-prescribing to decrease prescription errors? We think so and are adding our two-handed shove to the current strong push to encourage doctors to e-prescribe.

Examples of the types of errors found in the study include incomplete directions and prescribing a medication but omitting the quantity. Not seriously harmful mistakes, but resulting in lots of lost time for doctors, patients, and pharmacists from the resulting callbacks. None of us here at OA Systems went to Cornell, but we can tell you that lots of lost time equals lots of unhappy people.

“It is important that physicians know how technology like electronic prescribing systems can improve the safety and value of care they give [their] patients” and “it is also important that electronic prescribing systems are easy for health care providers to use, fit well into their workflow, and that providers have technical assistance to help them install and maintain these systems”. That’s what Dr. Rainu Kaushal, the head of pediatric quality and safety for the Komansky Center for Children’s Health at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, says. Smart folks, these Cornell people!

As you can see, in order to be beneficial, e-prescribing should be easy for health care providers to use and fit well into their workflow. These are important things to look at when selecting an e-prescribing solution. Physicians should make change a positive thing for their practices. And here’s one added perk of e-prescribing that even the folks at Cornell probably didn’t think of: you’ll never again be accused of having a “doctor’s handwriting”!