DrFirst and BCBSIL Join to Launch Innovative New E-prescribing Model That promotes Self Expansion and Continued Physician Utilization | DrFirst

Rockville, MD –

DrFirst, the leader in standalone electronic prescription services, announces the kick-off of a statewide initiative partnered with the Illinois eRx Collaborative. The Illinois eRx Collaborative is a multi-Payor and state-wide health care industry initiative with the goal of improving patient safety through e-prescribing technology. BCBSIL, a member of the Collaborative, and DrFirst expect to accelerate the adoption of e-prescribing by developing a core of early-adopting physician offices through the creation of a self-perpetuating funding model which relies on transaction fees to fund both existing and new physicians for the program. This unique concept is designed to allow multiple health plans to participate in the Collaborative by sponsoring prescription transactions for patients enrolled in each plan.

DrFirst will be providing physicians a license to the award-winning DrFirst Rcopia e-prescribing system, a PDA, wireless networking hardware, training and support. DrFirst will also pre-load each doctor’s system with patient demographics in order to ensure a quick transition from paper prescriptions to electronic prescribing.

Physicians choosing to utilize DrFirst Rcopia will also have the option to interface the e-prescribing system with existing practice management or electronic medical records software. In addition, Rcopia users will also have the opportunity to add additional features such as patient referral sharing and direct integration with ePocrates RxPro, a drug reference tool which includes clinical tables, an infectious disease treatment guide, the 2007 Medicare Part D drug formularies, and more.

“As other health plans join in and as physicians generate e-prescriptions, additional funds will be generated to bring on additional doctors,” said Stan Borg, chief medical officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. “An e-prescription is a safer prescription and our goal is to achieve widespread adoption of the technology throughout Illinois.”
DrFirst maintains major regional e-prescribing programs in 13 states across the country. Beyond enhancing patient safety by eliminating legibility errors, DrFirst Rcopia identifies potential drug interactions before a prescription is submitted and provides a mobile electronic record of patient prescription history. Rcopia also reduces healthcare spending through better formulary adherence, decreased telephone and fax volume between physicians and pharmacists, and through expediting the prescription refill process.

“We are pleased to have been selected by the Illinois E-Rx Collaborative after a very thorough selection process,” said G. Cameron Deemer, President of DrFirst. “We believe this confirms our ability to successfully implement large scale initiatives and to return value to our clients through successful e-prescribing programs. We are particularly comfortable with the transaction-based reimbursement component of this program. Rcopia has led the nation in volume of electronic prescriptions transmitted through the Surescripts network for well over a year, and we believe that physicians in Illinois will also embrace the efficiency and safety benefits of our e-prescribing solution.”

DrFirst Rcopia offers true end-to-end e-prescribing system that integrates every aspect of the prescribing process including patient eligibility and formulary information with medication history at the point of care. Additionally, Rcopia allows the physician to transmit the prescription electronically to the pharmacy of the patient’s choice where it is loaded directly into the pharmacy computer system. The electronic delivery process works for renewals as well as new prescriptions. DrFirst Rcopia is designed to produce legible and error-free prescriptions, reducing the number of phone calls and faxes between the physician’s office and the pharmacy. The system increases patient safety by incorporating automatic clinical edits, including drug-to-drug and drug-to-allergy interaction checking at the time of prescribing. Physicians can use DrFirst Rcopia via the web on desktop, laptop and tablet PCs. Mobile implementation is powered by DrFirst Rcopia for Palm and PocketPC operating systems which integrates seamlessly with the web-based system to ensure full on-line and off-line functionality.

DrFirst also provides leading edge secure text messaging platforms.