What is the Safe-Rx Award?
The Safe-Rx Award recognizes how e-prescribing enhances patient safety by providing a more secure, accurate and informed prescribing process. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and SureScripts® created the Safe-Rx Award. The award goes to the top 10 e-prescribing states in the nation and three physicians within the winning states who have demonstrated outstanding leadership through their use of e-prescribing technology. Results are based on an analysis of data from new prescriptions and refill responses electronically transmitted over the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange™, operated by SureScripts. For more information about the Safe-Rx award, please visit our Safe-Rx Web page at www.surescripts.com/Safe-Rx.
Who created the Safe-Rx Award?
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and SureScripts® created the Safe-Rx Award.
Who were the winners of the most recent Safe-Rx Awards?
The third annual Safe-Rx Awards were announced on March 4, 2008 during National Patient Safety Awareness Week. Here are the Top 10 states that received Safe-Rx Awards along with the list of physicians being honored in each state:
| 1. |
Massachusetts: |
Dr. Kenneth Guarnieri (Webster); Dr. Jeffrey Kleiman (Brockton); and Dr. Lorenver Po (Chicopee) |
| 2. |
Rhode Island: |
Dr. Ahmad Al-Raqqad (Pawtucket); Dr. David Gorelick (Newport); and Dr. Jayanthi Parameswaran (Newport) |
| 3. |
Nevada: |
Dr. Danny Johnson (Las Vegas); Dr. Evangelia Papageorge (Las Vegas); and Dr. Roosevelt Watson (Las Vegas) |
| 4. |
Delaware: |
Dr. Cedric Barnes (Milford); Dr. John Moore (Wilmington); and Dr. Alan Warrington (Wilmington) |
| 5. |
Michigan: |
Dr. Badri Gupta (Kinston); Dr. Arun Mehta (Livonia); and Dr. Nilofar Khan (Woodhaven) |
| 6. |
Maryland: |
Dr. Gul Chablani (Rockville); Dr. Nalin Mathur (Waldorf); and Dr. Than Nu (Princess Anne) |
| 7. |
North Carolina: |
Dr. William Larsen (Charlotte); Dr. Teigha Randolph (Kinston); and Dr. Robert Resnik (Cary) |
| 8. |
Arizona: |
Dr. Kenneth Adler (Tucson); Dr. Bradley Barnett (Tucson); and Dr. Gerald Muthu (Casa Grande) |
| 9. |
Connecticut: |
Dr. Rebecca Andrews (New Britain); Dr. William Rosner (West Haven); and Dr. Donald Rotenberg (Hartford) |
| 10. |
Washington: |
Dr. Karen Carlson (Bellevue); Dr. David Merkley (Richland); and Dr. Yong Shin (Montesano) |
What is the Safe-Rx Evangelist Award?
This award goes to a single person or organization whose advocacy has made an exceptionally positive impact on the awareness and prevention of medication errors. It is the highest honor presented on behalf of the nation's community pharmacies, whose work to improve communications between physicians, pharmacists and patients has led the nation toward a safer prescribing process. This year's Safe-Rx Evangelist Award is Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
What does the name "Safe-Rx" stand for?
The award name speaks to one of the main benefits of electronic prescribing: Increasing patient safety through more accurate prescribing - "Safe" and "SafeR" in "Safe-Rx". The phrasing of the award also incorporates electronic prescribing representation - the "e-Rx" in "Safe-Rx".
The Safe-Rx Award logo design incorporates the familiar pharmacy "Rx" symbol with 'strike-out' graphic to symbolize safer prescribing through the elimination of paper-based prescriptions.
How do you calculate the state rankings?
The rankings are based on an analysis of data from new prescriptions and refill responses transmitted electronically - not by fax - over the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, operated by SureScripts. States are ranked based on the percentage of eligible prescriptions routed electronically in the previous calendar year.
The total number of eligible prescriptions does not include controlled substances as they are not eligible for e-prescribing under current DEA regulations. The total number of eligible prescriptions also excludes preauthorized refills on existing prescriptions because they do not require communication between a physician and a pharmacist.
Safe-Rx rankings are not issued for years in which the state regulatory environment is unfavorable towards e-prescribing.
How do you determine the physician recipients?
The results are based on an analysis of data from new prescriptions and refill responses transmitted electronically - not by fax - over the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, operated by SureScripts. Three physicians in the each of the Safe-Rx winning (i.e. .Top 10) states are recognized for their outstanding leadership through their use of e-prescribing technology.
Where can I find out how my state finished if they did not make the Top 10?
Individuals who are interested in finding out how their state is progressing in its efforts to move from paper-based prescribing to e-prescribing can go to the Safe-Rx Awards Web site at www.surescripts.com/Safe-Rx. There, they will find a complete ranking of all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. based on e-prescribing activity. The Web site also contains a detailed progress report on each state's efforts to date, including:
- Prior years' rankings based on e-prescribing activity in 2005 and 2006
- The number and percentage of prescription transactions routed electronically
- The number and percentage of e-prescribers
- The number and percentage of e-prescribing pharmacies
How can my state improve its ranking?
To learn more about what you can do, and what others are doing, to drive improvements in the safety and efficiency of the prescribing process please contact Kate Berry, senior vice president of business development, SureScripts at (703) 921-2176.
Why are the Safe-Rx Awards so popular?
There are three reasons why the Safe-Rx Awards and ranking of the Top 10 E-Prescribing States have attracted such wide scale attention from industry, government and press.
- First, the Safe-Rx and state rankings are one of a kind: They are the only objective measure of nationwide and state-level health IT adoption in the U.S.
- Second, governors and other public and health officials have embraced the Safe-Rx Awards. For the past two years, we have held statehouse events with the Governors of the # 1 e-prescribing states: at the statehouse in Providence, Rhode Island in 2006; and in 2007 at the statehouse in Boston.
- Lastly, the annual state ranking and Safe-Rx Awards have spawned a "healthy competition" between states. For example, at the second annual Safe-Rx Awards, the Governor of Nevada challenged the Governor of Massachusetts for the # 1 position in 2008. Since the inaugural Safe-Rx Awards for 2005, several other Governors have set public goals for e-prescribing adoption (AL, CA, NH, IL and RI).
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