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Pennsylvania Pharmacists Launch Campaign to Help Thousands of Keystone State Physicians Start E-Prescribing for Patient Safety, Convenience

Posted on: Monday, 8 May 2006, 15:04 CDT

The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) and many community pharmacies across the commonwealth announced the launch of a statewide "Get Connected" campaign starting on May 9th designed to seize an immediate opportunity within the commonwealth to cut healthcare costs and save lives.

"Today, there are thousands of physicians in the commonwealth who have the ability to prescribe electronically," said Pat Epple, executive director of the Pennsylvania Pharmacist Association. "The only thing they are lacking is a connection to their local pharmacies. In healthcare, there are rarely simple fixes to what are typically very complex problems -- getting these physicians connected to pharmacists is a rare exception. Pennsylvanians deserve the benefits of safe and efficient electronic prescribing and the time has come to seize this opportunity to implement this technology."

Starting tomorrow, the PPA and many of the commonwealth's local community pharmacies will launch a statewide technology assessment. The assessment is designed to help physicians determine if their practice already possesses the technology to establish a direct, two-way, computer-to-computer connection with their local pharmacies. Practices will be sent the one-page assessment by fax and mail, or have the option to complete it online.

The community pharmacy industry estimates that approximately 150,000 physicians in the United States could be using their existing electronic medical record (EMR) or e-prescribing technology to send and receive prescriptions directly to and from their local pharmacists' computers. The problem: Most are not aware of this. The result: Most use a computer or handheld device to -- believe it or not -- send fax-based prescriptions to their local pharmacists' fax machines.

In addition to improving patient safety and the efficiency of new prescription routing, a direct electronic connection with pharmacies also allows prescription refill requests to be sent directly to a physician's computer. Physicians and their staff may review and respond with just a few clicks of their mouse. This significantly reduces the time spent managing what has traditionally been a phone and fax burdened process and leaves more time for patient care.

Over the last two years, Pennsylvania pharmacies have made significant upgrades to their computer systems to allow physician practices to exchange prescription information with them electronically. With more and more physician practices -- and more than half of Pennsylvania pharmacies -- now connected, e-prescribing has proven to be a more efficient and safe alternative to the traditionally paper-, phone- and fax-based prescribing process.

Top 10 E-Prescribing States

Tomorrow's launch of the Get Connected campaign will come on the heels of today's news that Pennsylvania was left out of the first annual SafeRx(TM) awards. "SafeRx" recognizes how e-prescribing enhances patient safety by providing a more secure and accurate prescribing process. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and SureScripts(R) sponsor the SafeRx award. The award goes to the top 10 e-prescribing states in the nation and three physicians within those 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 SureScripts Electronic Prescribing Network(TM). States are ranked based on the number of prescriptions routed electronically in 2005 as a percentage of the total number of prescriptions eligible for electronic routing. The 2006 SafeRx award winners, in order of their top 10 ranking:

 1.   Rhode Island 2.   Nevada 3.   Massachusetts 4.   Maryland 5.   Florida 6.   Delaware 7.   Virginia 8.   North Carolina 9.   Ohio 10.  Michigan 

How To Get Connected

For more information about the Pennsylvania e-prescribing technology assessment and to complete it online, physicians can go to www.GetRxConnected.com/PA. Physicians can also call with questions about the assessment or electronic prescribing in general: 1-866-RxReady (1-866-797-3239).

Upon completing and submitting the technology assessment, practices will receive a personalized "Practice Capability Report." Based on a physician's individual answers to the assessment, the report will offer an estimate of the time and associated costs currently spent by the practice managing the refill process. The report will specify if a physician's practice possesses the technology to establish a true electronic connection with pharmacies in their area and outline steps on how to get connected.

The Get Connected campaign will also serve as a chance for more pharmacists to Get Connected by going to www.GetRxConnected.com/PA/pharmacist.

For patients, e-prescribing means a safer and more efficient prescribing process -- no more lost prescriptions, no trip to the pharmacy to drop off the prescription and no illegible handwriting for the pharmacist to interpret. Residents of Pennsylvania who are interested in finding out more about how electronic prescribing benefits them and their families can go to www.GetRxConnected.com/PA/patients. The web site also features helpful advice on how residents can help their physician Get Connected to their local community pharmacy.

E-Prescribing's Growth Opportunity: Save Time, Dollars and Much More

There remains a sizable opportunity to grow e-prescribing adoption and utilization across the country -- including in all Top 10 SafeRx states. Realizing its full potential represents an unprecedented opportunity to improve patient safety and the efficiency of the prescribing process.

According to the Center for Information Technology Leadership (CITL), every year, more than 8 million Americans experience Adverse Drug Events (ADEs). CITL's research estimates that, by addressing ADEs caused by preventable medication errors, e-prescribing systems with a network connection to pharmacy and advanced decision support capabilities can help avoid more than 2 million ADEs annually -- 130,000 of which are life-threatening.

By eliminating paper from the prescribing process, e-prescribing has also been proven to offer significant time-savings by eliminating the need for phone calls and faxes, allowing prescribers and their staff more time to care for their patients.

A study by the Medical Group Management Association's (MGMA) Group Practice Research Network (GPRN) estimated that administrative complexity related to prescriptions costs a practice approximately $15,700 a year for each full time physician on staff. Multiplying that figure by an estimated 22,800 office-based physicians currently practicing and prescribing medications in Pennsylvania reveals an opportunity to save more than $357 million from conversion to e-prescribing.

 SureScripts Contact: Rob Cronin 917-414-5289 rob.cronin@surescripts.com  Weber Shandwick Contact: Shannon Altimari 617-520-7250 saltimari@webershandwick.com

SOURCE: SureScripts

Source: MARKET WIRE

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