Over 23 percent of physicians are e-prescribing, Surescripts announces

Surescripts, The Nation's E-Prescription Network, today announced that more than 140,000 (23 percent) of all office-based physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the United States are now e-prescribing. At the current pace, Surescripts projects that its total number of active e-prescribers in 2009 will more than double the 74,000 active e-prescribers at the end of 2008.

"E-prescribing is worthwhile for me because I can create a prescription in one-quarter of the time it took me previously, as it is automatically recorded into our system," said Dr. Greg Fuller, a family physician in Keller, Texas. "This is also very beneficial for tracking and managing potential drug interactions with other medications. Plus, it solves the age-old problem of illegible handwriting."

"The e-prescribing process adds efficiencies to our practice in many ways, as time-consuming faxes have been eliminated, making our patient service more efficient," said Dr. Narinder Batra, internist and pediatrician at Lenawee Adult & Pediatric Medicine located in Adrian, Mich. "We also no longer need to regenerate prescriptions, due to the automatic electronic record keeping. Formulary review also significantly reduces costs, and drug interactions and allergies are also checked which avoids complications."

Surescripts also announced that physicians can now choose from more than 200 types of e-prescribing and electronic medical record (EMR) systems that have been certified and are connected to the Surescripts network -- a 38 percent increase over the number available at the start of 2009. The growth in certified software makes the vital capabilities that define e-prescribing available to more physicians and the communities they serve.

Physicians and other prescribers use software certified by Surescripts to establish a secure, electronic link to pharmacy benefit managers and thousands of health plans nationwide. This allows them to confirm coverage and look up information such as prescription co-pays and the availability of generic alternatives for two-thirds of all Americans. With their patient's consent, prescribers can also access prescription history. Lastly, prescribers use the Surescripts network to send e-prescriptions to any of 51,000 retail pharmacies (representing 84 percent of all retail pharmacies) or six of the largest mail order pharmacies.

"The Nation's E-Prescription Network benefits patients in every state in the nation," said Harry Totonis, president and CEO of Surescripts. "Whether it is the convenience of making one trip to the pharmacy or receiving your prescription by mail, or the improved safety of legible prescriptions and providing doctors a more complete prescription history, or the savings that come from a patient and their doctor knowing about and selecting lower-cost prescription alternatives -- the Surescripts network makes these benefits available to millions of patients cared for by more than 140,000 physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants nationwide."