Capital BlueCross and Prematics to Deploy Nation's First Comprehensive E-Prescribing Service to Central Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley Physicians
Posted on: Thursday, 15 March 2007, 12:00 CDT
HARRISBURG, Pa. and BETHESDA, Md., March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital BlueCross and Prematics(TM) announced today a ground-breaking initiative to provide eligible Central Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley area physicians state- of-the-art electronic prescription handheld wireless devices and complete ongoing turn-key service, free of charge. As a result, physicians and patients in Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley will gain important time-saving, cost-saving and safety benefits from the nation's only comprehensive, end-to- end electronic prescribing service. Simple to use and highly secure, the Prematics ScriptTone(SM) electronic prescribing service is designed to meet the needs of the mainstream physician.
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"At Capital BlueCross we are committed to simplifying health care and improving the health care system for our members and the physicians who treat them," said Anita M. Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capital BlueCross. "Today's paper-driven prescription process can be prone to errors and inefficiencies. Through the Prematics e-prescribing service we are working to improve safety levels, save patients money, and help our customers to fight the escalating cost of prescription drugs. We expect the free ScriptTone(SM) e-prescribing service to make a real difference - particularly for our members who rely on smaller physician practices where primary care physicians might not otherwise have access to an e-prescribing solution."
Today, over 3.5 billion prescriptions are written each year, largely by a manual, paper-based prescription process that is prone to errors and inefficiencies, and medication errors are estimated to harm over 1.5 million Americans each year. In addition, doctors may be unaware that a patient's benefit plan saves the patient money when generic equivalents are prescribed. This usually results in the patient paying a higher copayment for a brand name drug, or, unnecessary phone calls, faxes, and return trips to the pharmacy for a new prescription. The Prematics ScriptTone(SM) solution saves time, money, and may even save lives by providing doctors with improved access to a patient's benefit plan and medication history, and ensures that a legible prescription is transmitted to the retail pharmacy.
The ScriptTone(SM) electronic prescribing service is connected to RxHub, an established industry network exchange, which provides physicians with up- to-date patient medication history and pharmacy benefit information. This allows physicians to write clinically appropriate prescriptions while saving money for the patient. ScriptTone(SM) also is connected to the SureScripts retail pharmacy network to send prescriptions electronically to the patient's pharmacy of choice. No longer do patients need to worry about losing paper prescriptions, and no longer do physicians need to be burdened by time consuming phone calls and faxes.
For physicians, the free ScriptTone(SM) service supported by Capital BlueCross offers several benefits. It saves time and reduces office administrative expenses by eliminating many steps in the current paper-driven process of prescribing medication, including time spent correcting pharmacy errors resulting from misunderstood hand-written prescriptions. For patients, Prematics' ScriptTone(SM) service likewise saves time and expense, and above all improves safety by significantly reducing the potential for adverse drug interactions.
"We are very pleased that Capital BlueCross, a strong and forward-thinking organization, is working with Prematics to bring the nation's only comprehensive, end-to-end electronic prescribing service to physicians throughout Central Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley," said Scott Puritz, Chief Executive Officer of Prematics. "By collaborating closely with Capital BlueCross and harnessing the power of the ScriptTone(SM) platform, we have a unique opportunity to make Central Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley the e-Health showcase for the nation," said Puritz.
Prematics is led by a team of highly experienced healthcare technology executives, including Chairman of the Board James Bradley, one of the nation's most experienced and respected healthcare executives and a driving force for innovation in healthcare information technology. The Prematics Executive Council includes healthcare luminaries such as former Senator John Breaux and former Secretary of Health & Human Services Tommy Thompson, along with the former CEOs of major companies in the health insurance, pharmacy benefit management and drug store fields. Prematics works closely with distinguished healthcare and technical advisory boards, and has the financial support of two leading investors, Foundation Capital and General Catalyst Partners.
Capital BlueCross network physicians who are interested in receiving the free Prematics ScriptTone(SM) service can apply to receive the service immediately. Interested physicians should visit http://www.capbluecross.com/ or http://www.prematics.com/ or call 1-877-500-6001 to express interest.
About Prematics
Prematics is an independent company that is solely responsible for provision and management of the ScriptTone(SM) electronic prescribing services described herein.
Prematics is committed to improving the safety, quality and efficiency of the prescription drug supply chain.
The company offers ScriptTone(SM), the nation's first easy-to-use, fully managed electronic prescribing service designed for physicians. Prematics delivers ScriptTone(SM) over the company's proprietary end-to-end network. This reliable and highly secure service empowers physicians at the point-of- care to prescribe the most clinically appropriate and cost-effective prescription.
ScriptTone(SM) benefits all of the key industry stakeholders by driving patient safety, lowering costs, and streamlining fulfillment.
More information about Prematics can be found at http://www.prematics.com/. About Capital BlueCross
Capital BlueCross is the leading health insurer in its market, providing health insurance coverage to nearly one million people in Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley.
Capital BlueCross is committed to making health insurance simple, offering easy to use health care and personal service at competitive prices.
The company has been serving its customers through all the stages of their life for almost 70 years and employs more than 2,300 people.
Capital BlueCross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
More information about Capital BlueCross can be found at http://www.capbluecross.com/.
Contact: Barclay Fitzpatrick, V.P. Corporate Communications Capital BlueCross 717-541-7752 or barclay.fitzpatrick@capbluecross.com Rochelle Woolley, Director of Public Relations Prematics, Inc. 612-963-4438 or pr@prematics.com
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Prematics
CONTACT: Barclay Fitzpatrick, V.P. Corporate Communications for CapitalBlueCross, +1-717-541-7752, barclay.fitzpatrick@capbluecross.com; or RochelleWoolley, Director of Public Relations for Prematics, Inc., +1-612-963-4438,pr@prematics.com
Web site: http://www.prematics.com/http://www.capbluecross.com/
Source: PRNewswire
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