Surescripts: Office-based e-prescribing gains serious traction in 2011
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The report also detailed some of the benefits realized by e-prescribing.
“The data showed a consistent 10 percent increase in patient first fill medication adherence among physicians who adopted e-prescribing technology. One finding was that the improved medication adherence from e-prescriptions can lead to 10-year estimated savings of between $140 billion to $240 billion, measured in healthcare cost savings and improved health outcomes,” read the report from Surescripts, the Arlington, Va.-based e-prescribing firm that operates the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange.
Trending data in the report focused on the increases in e-prescribing from 2008 to 2011, and was based on study collaborations with pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers comparing e-prescriptions with paper, phoned and faxed prescriptions.
Physicians who began routing prescriptions electronically in 2008 had quadrupled their use of e-prescribing over four years. Nearly 60 percent of those physicians meet the Stage 1 meaningful use e-prescribing measure, and 38 percent would meet the proposed Stage 2 measure.
“Eighty percent of physicians who adopted e-prescribing in 2008 used an integrated EHR. The data showed that prescribers using EHRs had significantly higher utilization levels (+53 percent) than prescribers using standalone e-prescribing systems,” wrote Surescripts.
Some other notable findings from the report:
- There was a 75 percent increase in the overall number of prescriptions routed electronically from 2010 to 2011. More than 570 million (36 percent) of prescriptions were e-prescribed.
- Electronic medication history deliveries increased 72 percent in 2011, and medication history was available for a third of all office visits.
- Electronic responses for prescription benefit information grew 87 percent in 2011.
Surescripts also noted, in its report, differences in meaningful use achievement for e-prescribing based on specialty. Family practitioners had the highest rates of meeting the e-prescribing measure at 69 to 74 percent, while ophthalmologists had the lowest rate at 27 percent.
Evan Godt, Writer
Evan joined TriMed in 2011, writing primarily for Health Imaging. Prior to diving into medical journalism, Evan worked for the Nine Network of Public Media in St. Louis. He also has worked in public relations and education. Evan studied journalism at the University of Missouri, with an emphasis on broadcast media.