E-Prescribing Software

The prescription pad has been redesigned for the digital age, and it’s changing the way patients get the medication they need. Doctors are now turning to electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) software instead of paper-based notes to handle their prescription orders. In fact, according to Maryville University, just over 70% of physicians currently use e-prescribing software.

Software providers are taking notice of the demand for electronic prescription software. As a result, there are hundreds of solutions available for practices to purchase. In this guide, we’ll break down what you need to know before selecting the right e-prescribing software for your organization.

Here’s what we’ll discuss:

What Is E-Prescribing Software?
Common Functionality of E-Prescribing Software
Deployment Strategies
Market Trends to Understand

What Is E-Prescribing Software?

E-prescribing software is a tool that allows you to electronically generate and transmit a prescription order directly from a healthcare provider to a patient’s pharmacy of choice. In other words, doctors can create and send a patient’s prescription using their computer or mobile device, rather than using manual methods (e.g., phone calls and faxes) to contact pharmacies.

Electronic prescriptions are transmitted through private, secure and closed networks maintained by e-prescribing software vendors. These networks are able to connect with the vast majority of pharmacies across the country.

The government has supported e-prescriptions by passing laws incentivizing their adoption, such as the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) of 2003 and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009. This is likely due to the software’s many benefits, which include:

• Enhanced patient safety: Doctors and users can identify drug interactions and allergies before finalizing a prescription because of built-in alert systems integrated into the software.
• Faster access to patient information: Prescribers can access a patient’s insurance formularies, eligibility information, and a list of current or past medications.
• Improved accuracy: Doctors have access to patient histories at the click of a button which gives a more holistic picture of their health and reduces the chance of prescribing errors.
• Increased patient convenience: Patients only need to take one trip to the pharmacist when filling or refilling a prescription because doctors can send medication orders digitally to the pharmacy.
• Guaranteed legibility: Pharmacists won’t have trouble reading a prescriber’s handwriting with digitally sent prescriptions, making dosage and drug information more accurate.

Patient medication calendar (Source)

For all these reasons, electronic prescribing has been lauded as a more accurate, efficient and safe alternative to handwritten prescriptions.

Common Functionality of E-Prescribing Software

Software providers offer a variety of functional breadth and depth in their e-prescribing solutions. Here are some of the most common capabilities:

Medication selection	Prescribers can typically choose from more than one option when searching for a medication to include in the prescription order, including generic alternatives to brand-name drugs.
Prescription creation and submission	Users can generate new prescriptions to be sent directly to a pharmacy from their desktop computer or mobile device. These orders can be processed individually or several at a time. Order management tools are typically included to ensure pharmacies have received prescriptions.
Adverse interaction checks	Most systems offer alerts and warnings for a variety of potential adverse reactions from a particular prescription, such as drug interactions, allergies, dosage amounts and duplicates.
Refill authorizations	Pharmacies can send refill requests to prescribers directly through the software's network. Providers can then approve or deny these requests electronically.
Medication history views	Most solutions allow users to access a patient’s medication history by importing it from a pharmacy’s database, or through the medication claims history provided by insurance payers/pharmacy benefit managers.

Doctor notes and allergy information when prescribing new medication (Source)

Deployment Strategies

E-prescribing vendors offer their products through one of two deployment models: standalone applications, or electronic health records (EHR) suites that include electronic prescription capabilities along with several other applications (e.g., patient scheduling and billing).

After all, it's easier to implement an e-prescribing system that’s integrated with a practice management solution out of the box. Integrating a third-party e-prescribing product with existing EHR software is generally more difficult.

On the other hand, standalone or “best-of-breed” programs have the benefit of being less expensive than EHR suites, in most cases. Since the user is only paying for one application as opposed to three or more, the fee for service isn’t usually as high.

Your budget and the size of your practice will be the determining factors when it comes to deciding between a best-of-breed system and an integrated EHR suite. Large and midsize practices with greater resources and multiple prescribers will likely be better served by comprehensive EHR suites than by standalone e-prescribing systems.

Market Trends to Understand

Government initiatives and incentive programs: One of the key drivers of adopting e-prescribing are the incentive programs launched by the government to improve healthcare quality, reduce healthcare costs and minimize prescription errors (Source: NCBI). The National Council for Prescription Drugs Program, a pharmacy standards development organization, has developed specialized standards for e-prescribing. The implementation of government initiatives, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009), and Drug Enforcement Administration’s rule allowing electronic prescription of controlled substances (EPCS) have assisted in increasing the use of e-prescribing.

In Europe, eHealth projects, such as the Schleswig-Holstein Health initiative and European Patient Smart Open Services (epSOS), have helped increase the adoption of e-prescribing systems (Source: Persistence Market Research).

Investments in healthcare IT: Rising investments in healthcare IT have increased the adoption of EHR software and other technology. Gartner states that “digital healthcare is propelling spending in enhancing core automation systems like various health information systems and other associated technologies”. Improved infrastructure and expansion of healthcare IT have helped in the growth of e-prescribing technology. The growing adoption of integrated EHR models has also aided the e-prescribing market.

Advancements in e-prescribing technology: Persistence Market Research also says that advanced e-prescribing features, such as data security checks, patient history, preparing complete medication lists and information of formulary, are also key drivers of this market. These advancements have helped expand the scope and quality of patient care.

Improved efficiency and reduced expenses: According to Statista, 80% of all prescriptions are written digitally. This has helped the industry improve efficiency, reduce medication errors and enjoy cost-saving benefits.

High costs, security and connectivity issues hinder adoption of e-prescribing systems: The high costs of e-prescribing systems and risks associated with privacy and patient security restrain the growth of the e-prescribing market. Other factors include unavailability of high-speed broadband services and integrated networks, especially in developing countries. The absence of competent IT professionals and laws to protect patient privacy discourage pharmacies and healthcare professionals from switching to e-prescribing systems.

Conclusion

The shift to electronic prescribing systems can save funds and manual efforts in the healthcare industry. Additional features offered by these systems help to improve patient care efficiency. Improvements in IT infrastructure and investments in digital healthcare will help improve adoption of e-prescribing systems. Companies that become early adopters will reap the benefits sooner than those who don’t.