For Immediate Release
ROCKVILLE, MD —
The Consortium of Independent Physician Associations (CIPA), an affiliate of Medical Advantage Group (MAG) and a collection of 38 independent physician associations (IPA), consisting of 4,000 physicians throughout the state of Michigan, has selected DrFirst™ as its partner in deploying Rcopia electronic prescribing technology to 1,200 of their member physicians. The initial focus will be on installing e-prescribing for primary care physicians and large group practices. This e-prescribing initative was developed to encourage improvements in the quality and efficiency of care delivered to patients while also creating opportunities to achieve performance-based incentives for member physicians.
“Through DrFirst’s unique Rcopia Insight™ reporting system, CIPA will be able to observe aggregate physician prescribing behavior and to benchmark utilization and outcomes data. Our goals for the first three years of the program are to increase patient safety, cost savings, and physician office efficiency. In addition, we expect to forge new contracts with major insurers to increase generic utilization and increase formulary compliance resulting in higher incentive payments for our physician members,” said Charles Carpenter, Consultant for CIPA.
Based on results that DrFirst has achieved with similar physician organizations, CIPA anticipates 480,000 prescription changes because of drug-to-drug interaction alerts, 36,000 prescription changes because of drug allergy alerts and one to two hours per day of time saved for each physician because of the automated renewal process.
“We believe MAG and CIPA are uniquely positioned to rapidly expand the utilization of electronic prescribing across the state of Michigan because of their scope and size,” said G. Cameron Deemer, President of DrFirst. “By offering Rcopia to its member physicians, CIPA will strengthen its market presence and build its relationships with existing members through technological innovation and increased profitability.”
CIPA will subsidize first year costs for each physician and pay for a PDA or comparable credit towards other hardware. After the initial year, CIPA has contracted with DrFirst to offer the physicians the opportunity to continue the program at a discounted rate.
DrFirst’s flagship product, Rcopia, is the nation’s leading full-featured stand-alone electronic prescription management system and the leading e-prescribing tool in Michigan. Rcopia is easy to use, so clinicians can learn quickly and positively impact care. CIPA providers using e-prescribing will receive clinical alerts to patient drug allergies, drug interactions and therapeutic duplication. They can access insurance plan eligibility and formulary, authorize renewals and refills, and easily track a patient’s medication history. Rcopia operates on multiple platforms, such including PDAs, desktop, laptop and tablet personal computers, allowing physicians to create legible prescriptions quickly and accurately and remembering patients’ medication dosage/interval and pharmacy of choice. In addition, staff efficiency can be increased through fewer phone calls and faxes, since prescription and renewal requests are accepted directly from and sent to pharmacy computer systems. All of these factors allow Rcopia to enhance patient safety and reduce costs with the goal of benefiting patients, physicians, pharmacies and health plans
About DrFirst
DrFirst is a national provider of physician connectivity services through its award-winning, Surescripts GoldRx Certified Rcopia electronic prescription management system. Founded in 2000, DrFirst creates innovative services targeted to physicians in both ambulatory and acute care environments. DrFirst solutions are widely integrated with practice management and electronic medical records software through its “Open Borders” program, and the company counts among its client base, not only physician practices, but major health plans, health systems, and EMR vendors. More information about DrFirst can be found at www.drfirst.com.
About The Consortium of Independent Physician Associations (CIPA)
The primary purpose of CIPA is to serve as a vehicle for physicians to maintain their independent practice of medicine yet be part of a larger entity working together to engage in physician incentive opportunities. Our mission is to encourage improvements in the quality and efficiency of care delivered to patients by engaging in opportunities which recognize and reward health care providers for performance excellence. We believe that participation in programs that recognize performance excellence with financial incentives can sustain and enhance the independent practice of medicine. CIPA is managed by Medical Advantage Group (MAG), a management service organization that provides ongoing management and administrative services to CIPA, as well as to individual physician organization members of CIPA. More information about CIPA can be found at http://www.thecipa.com.