Surescripts: E-prescribing jumped 72% in 2010, cards lead the way
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Cardiologists (49 percent) and family practitioners (47 percent) had the highest rates for e-prescribing, and practices with five to 10 physicians (44 percent) and two to five physicians (42 percent) were most likely to e-prescribe, according to the report. The 2010 edition marks the fourth in an annual series that tracks e-prescribing adoption and use in the U.S., according to the Arlington, Va.-based company, which operates the largest U.S. e-prescription network.
This year’s report measures the growth of e-prescribing from 2008—before the advent of federal incentives—through 2010 and includes new data on physician adoption of e-prescribing and EHRs, Surescripts stated.
Other highlights from the report included:
- The number of e-prescriptions in 2010 grew to 326 million, up from 190 million e-prescriptions in 2009. By the end of 2010, approximately 25 percent of eligible prescriptions were prescribed electronically.
- In 2010, approximately twice as many patient visits to doctors' offices included the opportunity for physicians to access a patient's prescription benefit information and medication history in order to prescribe safer and lower cost prescriptions.
- At the end of 2010, approximately 91 percent of community pharmacies and six of the largest mail-order pharmacies in the U.S. were able to receive prescriptions electronically.
“HITECH incentives were one of the most significant drivers of growth in 2010—especially for e-prescribing,” the report said. In addition, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA)—introduced in 2009—offered a 2 percent bonus payment in 2010 for qualified e-prescribers that prepared and sent prescriptions to pharmacies electronically using a qualified e-prescribing system. The level of reimbursement will start to fall next year, the report added.