Docs warming up to e-prescribing
Docs warming up to e-prescribing
Risk managers and patient safety experts often run into resistance from physicians when they advocate electronic prescription systems, known as e-prescribing, even though the patient safety benefits are clear. But now a new survey suggests that physicians may be coming around.
The survey of 500 physician practices that have participated in a three-year pilot program demonstrates that a large majority of doctors and their staff who use the technology believe that it allows them to practice safer and better medicine. The survey was conducted by Southeastern Michigan ePrescribing Initiative (SEMI) in Detroit, a broad coalition that includes General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Chrysler, and the United Auto Workers (UAW).
SEMI found that three out of four prescribers believe strongly that e-prescribing improves safety for their patients, and nearly 70% say it improves the quality of care. One of the important benefits of e-prescribing cited by physicians is the safety alerts that warn of potentially harmful drug-drug interactions and drug-allergy risks at the time of prescribing. Nearly 65% of physician e-prescribers reported at least one incident of changing a prescription in response to a safety alert received through the system, which is a strong statistic demonstrating that e-prescribing can help prevent against dangerous and costly adverse drug events.
More than 70% of respondents saw a reduction in communications with pharmacies over prescription questions; for 40% of respondents, the reduction was substantial. Research shows that physicians typically spend more than three hours a day handling phone calls and extra work from prescription issues, SEMI reports.
Results from a separate analysis of 2007 data from the SEMI program also show that e-prescribing improves safety and formulary compliance. A review of 3.3 million electronic prescriptions written by physicians participating in SEMI showed that when a formulary alert was presented, the physician changed the prescription 39% of the time to comply with formulary requirements. There were more than 1 million alerts sent on moderate to severe drug-to-drug risks, which resulted in nearly 423,000 (41%) of those prescriptions being changed or canceled by the prescribing doctor.
More than 100,000 medication allergy alerts were presented, of which more than 41,000 (41%) were acted upon. [See complete survey.]
Risk managers and patient safety experts often run into resistance from physicians when they advocate electronic prescription systems, known as e-prescribing, even though the patient safety benefits are clear. But now a new survey suggests that physicians may be coming around.Subscribe Now for Access
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