ePrescribing increases 72% in 2010

Yesterday, Surescripts released its annual progress report on ePrescribing, which reported across the board increases in prescriptions being routed electronically, electronic responses to requests for prescription benefit information, and prescription histories being delivered to prescribers.
One of the reports most salient findings was the 72 percent rise in prescriptions being routed electronically from 191 million in 2009 to 326 million in 2010. The number of prescribers routing prescriptions electronically grew from 156,000 at the end of 2009 to 234,000 by the end of 2010—representing about 34 percent of all office-based prescribers. The report also showed prescribers favoring EMRs (79 percent) as the preferred method of prescribing, up from 70 percent in 2009, rather than using standalone ePrescribing software. Practices with 2 to 10 physicians led the way in ePrescribing, with family practitioners and cardiologists leading adoption. The report also noted that 91 percent of the nation’s community pharmacies accept ePrescriptions.
During the report briefing, Paul Uhrig, chief administrator and legal officer, and chief privacy officer, said that ePrescribing has benefited over the last three years from the increased role of federal government, with the release of the HITECH act and incentive programs offered through the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA). He noted that future drivers of ePrescribing and interoperable healthcare growth include Stages 2 and 3 meaningful use and reform efforts under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which is set to grow the number of insured patients by 30 million. Also, in June 2010 DEA regulatory changes gave prescribers the option of issuing prescriptions for controlled substances electronically, which will require ePrescriber software to be certified specifically for controlled substances, as well as necessitate two-factor authentication.
SOURCE:  Posted by Jennifer Prestigiacomo, Healthcare Informatics Blog 5/12/11
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NOTE: The McKesson Ambulatory software products — Lytec MD and Medisoft Clinical as well as the SuiteMed software all utilize the Surescripts ePrescribing solution.