Surescripts' E-Prescribing
ATLANTA, HealthcareIT News– This past year has been the “tipping point” for e-prescribing, says Surescripts CEO and President Harry Totonis. Alexandria, VA -based Surescripts is releasing its 2009 National Progress Report on E-Prescribing Monday at HIMSS.
The report, the third that the vendor has released, shows significant growth in the services that support the e-prescribing process as well as in its adoption by prescribers, payers and pharmacies.
The report shows the following increase in participation and use in e-prescribing from 2008-2009:
• The number of prescribers routing prescriptions electronically grew from 74,000 to 156,000.
• Approximately 85 percent of community pharmacies in the U.S. are connected for prescription routing.
• Surescripts is able to provide access to prescription benefit and history information (on behalf of payers) for more than 65 percent of patients in the U.S.
• The number of e-prescriptions grew from 68 million to 191 million. Electronic requests for prescription benefit information grew from 79 million to 303 million.
• The number of prescription histories delivered grew from 16 million to 81 million.
Rob Cronin, senior director of corporate communications at Surescripts, says the growth we are seeing in access to prescription benefits and history is not surprising. “People are waking up to that fact that this information is available to them,” he says.
Totonis says the top three drivers that have contributed to e-prescribing growth are federal incentives for IT, rapid adoption of the technology by large clinics and health systems, and the support demonstrated by pharmacies.
The report’s message, he says, is that e-prescribing is working. “This is an incredible success story,” he said. He also believes the “lessons learned” from e-prescribing can be applied to the rest of the industry. “The growth and success of e-prescribing is definitely a model. And when thinking of further deploying IT, this ecosystem can be applied over and over again. ”
In order to spur more adoption he recommends a continued push for the Drug Enforcement Administration to allow controlled substances to be electronically prescribed and continued support and collaboration from all the organizations within the ecosystem.
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