EMR Benefits: E-Prescribing

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E-prescribing is the ability of a healthcare facility to send computer-generated prescriptions directly to the pharmacy. E-prescribing allows medical practitioners to generate and send prescriptions immediately allowing healthcare professionals to send accurate and understandable prescriptions. It can potentially reduce medication errors associated with traditional prescriptions.[1]


Benefits

With the implementation of electronic prescribing system (e-prescribing) doctors can directly establish communication with a pharmacy, preventing the common mistakes committed in traditional prescriptions. Among the disadvantages of paper records are that they may get lost as well as they can be misread.

Specific benefits of the implementation of E-prescribing systems are:[2]

  • An e-prescribing system can help in the reduction of medical errors committed by pharmacist such as the interpretation of illegible handwriting.
  • Provides warning and alert systems at the point of care
  • Access to patient medical history from other pharmacies
  • Increasing patient convenience and medication compliance
  • Diminish the amount of phone calls and faxes assisting in the reduction of cost
  • Reducing costs by actively promoting appropriate drug usage
  • Improve workflow efficiencies
  • Reduced paperwork
  • Involves patients with their prescription process. E-prescribing can confirm the patient’s prescription order via text, phone call, or voicemail. E-prescribing can also confirm the patient’s pharmacy of choice and when the prescription is ready. [2]


Add to the list of benefits for e-prescribing

  • Improve patient safety - with e-prescribing implementation less misinterpretation of the hand written prescription.
  • Less time on the phone - 150 million calls are made from pharmacists to doctors to check on the meaning of indecipherable handwriting on a prescription. cutting down on phone calls
  • Saves patient money - the doctor has a choice to use the generic or the name brand which this could help with patient and the money.
  • Better efficiency - doctor and pharmacy has the prescription in the computer so they do not have to worry about writing note in chart or the written copy placed in patient chart.

[3]

Limitations

Concerns have been raised regarding the inability to transmit patient weight through eRx transmission standards, and the potential difficulty in applying weight-based dosing. Also, prescription information is limited to 140 characters, making more complicated compounding prescriptions impractical.[4]

Pharmacists have reported higher Rx inaccuracy with eRx than paper prescriptions, resulting in higher cost and time spent in verifying the accuracy of eRx prescriptions. [5]

Importance of E-prescribing

Implementing the standards to facilitate e-prescribing represents one of the key actions in the government in order to expedite the use of Electronic health records (EHR).

Advanced e-prescribing functionality will enable secure transmission of prescriptions from prescribers to a patient's pharmacy of choice through a provincial electronic Drug Information System (DIS)/Pharmacy Network, which will lessen the need for clarification calls, especially in the domains of missing information and appropriateness of the prescription.

[6].

Electronic prescribing incentive program

The Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program is a reporting program that uses a combination of incentive payments and payment adjustments to encourage electronic prescribing by eligible professionals. [7]

Study

A study in 2008 asked primary doctors' perspectives on electronic prescribing drug alerts. The study included 276 prescribers and staff in 64 practices using 1 of 6 electronic prescribing software. The study said that over 40% of doctors' override drug alerts. They (the doctors) said that the alerts were useful for patient safety but the alerts were often unnecessary and were too sensitive. Overall the prescribers recognize the importance of drug alerts for patient safety but there needs to be improvement in the software concerning the sensitivity of the alerts. [8]

References

  1. E-prescribing https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/E-health/Eprescribing/index.html
  2. 2.0 2.1 Porterfield, Amber. (E-prescribing Benefits http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/2007/12/t20071204d.html
  3. https://medicalmastermind.com/blog/4-benefits-of-e-prescribing-with-your-new-ehr/
  4. http://geekdoctor.blogspot.com/2014/07/limitations-of-e-prescribing-standards.html
  5. http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/s/266/c/42392/
  6. Phillips, J. L., Shea, J. M., Leung, V., & MacDonald, D. (2015). Impact of Early Electronic Prescribing on Pharmacists’ Clarification Calls in Four Community Pharmacies Located in St John’s, Newfoundland. JMIR medical informatics,3(1).
  7. E-prescribing Incentive program https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/ERxIncentive/index.html?redirect=/ERxIncentive/
  8. Lapane, K. L., Waring, M. E., Schneider, K. L., Dubé, C., & Quilliam, B. J. (2008). A Mixed Method Study of the Merits of E-Prescribing Drug Alerts in Primary Care. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23(4), 442–446. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-008-0505-4
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