Surescripts Announces that Majority of Doctors in U.S. Now Use E-Prescribing
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
SURESCRIPTS ANNOUNCES THAT
MAJORITY OF DOCTORS IN U.S. NOW USE E-PRESCRIBING
Annual 1-50 Ranking of States Based on E-Prescribing
Use
Shows Nationwide Growth of E-Prescribing
Safe-Rx Awards Salute Top E-Prescribing States, Detail
Progress Across All
ARLINGTON, Va. - Nov. 9, 2011 - Surescripts today
announced that over 52 percent of office-based doctors now use
e-prescribing. The announcement was made over Twitter as part of a
nationwide online event featuring healthcare leaders and providers
from across the U.S. who gathered to celebrate the sixth annual
Safe-Rx Awards, given each year to the top 10 states based on
e-prescribing use. To view and participate in the post-event
discussion, go to www.surescripts.com/safe-rx
where visitors can also find adoption and use statistics for all
states and share in the experiences of the individuals and
organizations driving the use of e-prescribing across the
nation.
"Congratulations to this year's Safe-Rx Award winners and to all
the states for taking action to improve one of the most fundamental
parts of our nation's health care system," said Harry Totonis,
president and CEO of Surescripts. "In three short years, the nation
has moved from less than 10 percent to more than 50 percent of
physicians e-prescribing. This represents one of the most
significant milestones achieved to date in the nationwide effort to
adopt and achieve meaningful use of health information
technology."
By replacing a pen and paper prescription pad with a more
accurate, reliable and secure electronic prescription and by
allowing prescribers to access critical information regarding their
patients' medications and health plan coverage, e-prescribing saves
lives, time and money, and improves the quality of care.
Surescripts reported the following statistics, tracking the growth
of e-prescribing nationwide:
- 52 percent (291,000) of all office-based physicians now actively use e-prescribing compared with fewer than 10 percent three years ago
- There are 357,000 active prescribers on the Surescripts network (including office-based physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants)
- 94 percent of retail pharmacies nationwide are now connected and receiving e-prescriptions
Top 10 States With Highest Rates of
E-Prescribing
1. Massachusetts
2. Delaware
3. Michigan
4. Connecticut
5. Rhode Island
6. Pennsylvania
7. South Dakota*
8. Iowa*
9. Oregon*
10. North Carolina*
*New to the top 10
According to the results of Surescripts' annual audit of
electronic prescribing use across all states, it was determined
that prescribers in the Bay State used e-prescribing for 43 percent
of all prescriptions in 2010, thereby helping to avoid medication
errors due to poor handwriting and similar drug names. What's more,
41 percent of patient visits benefit from electronic access to a
patient's medication history, which helps doctors and their
patients avoid potentially harmful drug interactions. For this
accomplishment, Massachusetts was recognized at the sixth annual
Safe-Rx Awards along with nine other states that made the greatest
use of e-prescribing in 2010. To view the complete ranking of all
states, go to www.surescripts.com/safe-rx.
"In the next 5 years, we are going to see electronic health
information exchange of all types - e-prescribing, clinical
summaries, population health - become commonplace and become the
rule rather than the exception," said Dr. John Halamka, chief
information officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in
Boston, which was recently named the top-ranked healthcare
information company in the nation by InformationWeek 500.
Halamka is the recipient of the prestigious Safe-Rx Evangelist
Award, given each year to the person or organization whose work has
made an extraordinary impact on the awareness and use of
e-prescribing as a critical means of reducing medication
errors.
"I look forward to it, because ultimately, in a few years, I'm
going to be ready for retirement and I'll be a patient as well,"
said Halamka.
The Safe-Rx Awards celebrate leadership and exceptional commitment
to advancing health care safety, efficiency and quality through the
use of e-prescribing. They reflect Surescripts' long-standing
collaboration with the nation's pharmacies, payers, physicians and
technology vendors to support the exchange of health information
over a network that is non commercial, neutral, transparent and
standards-based. The Awards are based on a ranking that measures
states' actual use of e-prescribing.
What About My State?
Ranking aside, e-prescribing use is growing substantially across
all states in the U.S. in 2010. To view reports detailing the
growth of e-prescribing adoption and use in all 50 states plus
Washington, D.C., see the State
Progress Reports.
E-Prescribing: A Leading Indicator for Meaningful Use of
Electronic Health Records
Surescripts applies a comprehensive method for ranking states' use
of e-prescribing - one that measures the use of three critical
steps: electronically confirming a patient's prescription
benefit information prior to sending the e-prescription;
electronically cross-referencing a patient's medication history
with pharmacies and payers; and electronically routing a
prescription to the patient's choice of pharmacy.
This ranking method and associated statistics represent a unique
opportunity for health care and policy leaders to track meaningful
use of electronic health records. Because prescription benefit
information, medication history and prescription routing assist in
supporting at least four meaningful uses of an electronic health
record, Surescripts' state statistics and ranking can now serve as
a valuable proxy for tracking state and national progress against
the administration's health IT agenda.
# # #
About Surescripts
The Surescripts network supports the most comprehensive ecosystem
of healthcare organizations nationwide. Pharmacies, payers,
pharmacy benefit managers, physicians, hospitals, health
information exchanges and health technology firms rely on
Surescripts to more easily and securely share health information.
Guided by the principles of neutrality, transparency, physician and
patient choice, open standards, collaboration and privacy,
Surescripts operates the nation's largest health information
network. By providing information for routine, recurring and
emergency care, Surescripts is committed to saving lives, improving
efficiency and reducing the cost of health care for all. For more
information, go to www.surescripts.com and
follow us at twitter.com/surescripts.
Press Contact:
Rob Cronin
(917) 414-5289
rob.cronin@surescripts.com
