I had to visit a doctor about a week ago and he prescribed me some pain medication. I knew my doctor started e-prescribing, so I wasn’t surprised when he asked me for which pharmacy to send my script to. However, this was my first time visiting his office since he started e-prescribing, which for me, was a big relief because I was hoping to spend less time at the pharmacy and making two visits…one to drop off my prescription and another to pick it up…unless I wanted to wait!

So I told him my preferred pharmacy of choice and asked him how long he thought it would take for the medication to be ready for pick-up. He said he didn’t know, but thought that it would probably be ready by the time I left the clinic and got to the pharmacy, which is about 15 minutes. I made sure to check the time, thanked him, and left for the pharmacy.

By the time I parked and got in line at the pharmacy it had taken about eleven minutes, it took another two to get my turn and then about a minute for the pharmacy tech to look up my order and bring me the medication. So the total time I left the doctor’s office until I received the medicine in my hands was a little under fifteen minutes. I am not sure if this could have been faster if I had had the prescription electronically sent to a closer pharmacy to the clinic or not..perhaps that’s another study I can conduct next time!

This encounter was in stark contrast to one in which I had to pick up a prescription for my wife, whose doctor does not e-prescribe. The first step was to drop off the script at the pharmacy, which took about ten minutes in and of itself, as the line for drop-off at the pharmacy had six people in front of me. Then I was told to come back in “twenty to thirty minutes” so it could be processed (which got me to thinking why it takes longer to process a paper script versus and electronic one…the main reason I came up with was that the authentication procedure for electronic scripts, as well as the data entry required for them is faster).

Anyways, long story short, it took a total of fifty-six minutes to process the paper script.

I would definitely prefer the fifteen minute wait time versus the fifty-six minute wait time any day, and I am sure almost everyone else would to. It was an interesting experience to test out first-hand, and I am glad I got to experience it because it proved that e-prescribing is a lot more convenient for the patient!

• Enter at least 10 eRx G-codes (G8553) on eligible claims with dates of service between January 1, 2011 and June 30, 2011.
• Submit all claims by July 31st, 2011. We would suggest submitting claims by July 29^th as July 30 and 31st fall on the weekend.

If you have additional questions, please refer to the CMS website or you may also contact us at (909) 466-1605.

With RxCure,™ Ohio physicians can now experience the benefits of electronic prescribing. Much time is spent on the phone or sending faxes to pharmacies in the traditional prescription writing process. By submitting prescriptions electronically through RxCure,™ this time can be better used for more important things, such as attending to patients. The efficiency of the office will improve if doctors and office staff can cater to more patients, which in turn will bring in more revenue to the practice.                                                                                                              

Using RxCure™ allows Ohio’s physicians to transform their practice at the click of a button by improving workflow and thus increasing income, while creating an environment that fosters optimum patient care. In addition, RxCure™ will qualify physicians for the 2% Medicare bonus! For more information on the Medicare incentives program, go to the CMS eRX site.

While the HITECH ACT is taking shape, New York wants to accelerate the adoption of technology in healthcare. Isn’t it nice to have forward thinking states such as New York?

This incentive program offers Medicaid prescribers $0.80 per dispensed ambulatory Medicaid e-prescription. In addition, pharmacies are going to benefit financially by receiving $0.20 per dispensed ambulatory Medicaid e-prescription. Any enrolled physician (MD, DO), Dentist, NP, Podiatrist, Optometrist, and licensed Midwife is eligible. Furthermore, this program is going to promote patient medication adherence, because the incentive is payable when the prescription is dispensed to the beneficiary. All prescriber incentives are going to be bundled into quarterly payments.

This program should encourage other states (California, I can’t see you!) to promote healthcare technology as New York is certainly doing its part in promoting the early adoption of technology in healthcare.

Source PDF.

Bruce Roberts made his comments at the Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee Information Exchange Workgroup hearing earlier this year.

Also at the hearing, the NCPA summarized the advantages of e-prescribing for pharmacists. It noted that there was by and large “positive acceptance” and “improvement in work flow” for the pharmacists who were familiar with e-prescribing.

Of course, as with implementing any new technology, there are challenges – especially for community pharmacies. But the NCPA says it believes the independent pharmacy community is geared up to tackle the obstacles they’ve outlined “so that we can all accelerate the development of a robust system of e-prescribing.”

According to Surescripts, around 18 percent of prescriptions were sent electronically in 2009. This was almost three times more than the amount sent electronically in 2008!

About 85 percent of community pharmacies are connected and ready to receive those electronic prescriptions. However, only 25 percent of all clinic-based physicians are now e-prescribing. So it looks like the pharmacies have more technical capacity to effect change in the e-prescribing world. But we should look at the bright side and see the amount of potential for growth. The bottom line is that there are a lot more physicians who need to start e-prescribing!

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”!