Surescripts: Majority of physicians e-prescribing

More than half of office-based physicians are now ordering prescriptions electronically, according to Surescripts, a health IT services provider based in Arlington, Va.

"In three years, the nation has moved from less than 10 percent to more than 50 percent of physicians e-prescribing,” Surescripts President and CEO Harry Totonis said.

According to Surescripts, 291,000, or 52 percent of all office-based physicians, actively use e-prescribing. There are 357,000 active physicians, nurses and physicians’ assistants prescribing on the Surescripts network and 94 percent of retail pharmacies fill electronic prescriptions.

Additionally, Surescripts released a list of the top 10 e-prescribing states. Massachusetts, where 43 percent of all prescriptions ordered in 2010 were electronically ordered, topped the list. Included in the top ten after Massachusetts were:

• Delaware                
• Michigan                    
• Connecticut                    
• Rhode Island                    
• Pennsylvania
• South Dakota
• Iowa
• Oregon
• North Carolina