Electronic prescribing, also known as e-Prescribing, has been shown to be beneficial to physicians, patients, pharmacies and employers.
Electronic prescribing helps physicians to
more safely prescribe drugs to their
patients. Depending on the particular application used by the physician, electronic prescribing technologies can provide access to
formulary information, a drug reference
guide, and drug-to-drug and drug-to-allergy
screening information based on the patient’s
available records. Depending on the application used, physicians can also send prescriptions to pharmacies.
Smart Business spoke with Bill Berenson,
senior vice president of sales and service for
Aetna’s Small and Middle Market Business
for the North Central Region, about why
Aetna supports the use of e-Prescribing and
how it can benefit physicians, patients and
businesses.
How does e-Prescribing work?
Electronic prescribing is a form of technology that enables physicians to write electronic prescriptions through a hand-held
device and then send them to pharmacies.
This approach can help reduce medication
errors resulting from illegible, handwritten
prescriptions and improve the flow of information between a physician and a patient’s
health plan, and then between the physician
and dispensing pharmacies.
In addition, electronic prescribing applications may provide a physician with access
to a patient’s medication claims record and
can help the physician to determine
whether or not the prescription may have a
negative reaction to another drug the
patient is already taking. Also, electronic
prescribing applications may allow the
physician to see a list of preferred drugs
under the patient’s health plan so they can
prescribe a clinically appropriate medication that helps minimize the patient’s out-of-pocket expenses.
How does an employer benefit from
e-Prescribing?
When medical providers have easier
access to an insurance company’s particular formulary, they can better recommend
drugs that are both clinically appropriate
and cost-effective. Electronic prescribing
also helps physicians to recommend a drug
safely. This can reduce the number of costly
visits to the emergency room and time away
from work because of bad drug-to-drug
reactions.
One of the findings from the pilot program
Aetna and Zix Corporation conducted with
physicians in New Jersey was a 5 to 7 percent increase in the use of generic and formulary drugs in that state, which can reduce
health costs. The pilot program, which
began in July 2005, provided 1,000 hand-held devices with Zix Corp.’s PocketScript
service to its network providers in New
Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. Results
are expected to vary in different markets.
The pilot also resulted in greater access to
information at the point of care to help
physicians avoid potential adverse drug
events.
What value does e-Prescribing bring to
physician practices?
The values gained by e-Prescribing are its
focus on patient safety and physician satisfaction, both of which can impact medical costs. Electronic prescribing can help
health care providers reduce medication
errors resulting from illegible, handwritten
prescriptions and simplify the prescribing
process for participating physicians and
patients. It also makes it easier for physicians to prescribe generic or formulary
drugs, which can result in significant savings for the patient and the employer.
Physicians will also benefit from reduced
paperwork and phone calls from pharmacies regarding legibility, lower-cost options
and formulary issues.
What are some of the barriers to physicians
adopting e-Prescribing?
The biggest challenge is setting up physicians with the technology. It is the role of
both the benefits providers and employers
to support local and national initiatives to
improve access to and adoption of e-Prescribing technology. In fact, the
Pharmaceutical Care Management
Association reported that a broad coalition
of consumer, union, business, purchaser
groups and other prescription drug stake-holders is asking Congress to make sure
physicians use e-Prescribing in Medicare by
2010.
Employers may also consider aligning
themselves with the National e-Prescribing
Patient Safety Initiative or eRxNow™, a
coalition of the nation’s most prominent
technology and health care companies who
promote the use of e-Prescribing. The coalition will provide free access to secure electronic prescribing for every physician in
America.
Aetna hopes that its pilot and other e-Prescribing initiatives will encourage other
insurers to see the impact e-Prescribing can
have on health care quality, medical costs
and physicians, and lead them to invest in e-Prescribing technology.
BILL BERENSON is senior vice president of Aetna’s Small and
Middle Market Business for the North Central Region. Reach him
at (312) 928-3323 or [email protected].
