BOSTON—September 14, 2005—Across the country, e-prescribing is fast becoming the
easy and convenient way for physicians to handle prescriptions. Patients, too, recognize
the efficiency, time-savings and improved quality delivered by e-prescribing technology.
In Massachusetts, the eRx Collaborative recently completed its mid-year 2005 report.
Highlights include:
• As of Q2 2005, more than 2,700 prescribers in Massachusetts have incorporated
e-prescribing into their practices through the eRx Collaborative (this number
includes e-prescribing applications from both technology partners Zix
Corporation (Nasdaq:ZIXI) and DrFirst)
• There was a 41 percent increase in the number of scripts sent in Q2 compared to
Q1
• Over one million scripts have been sent through the eRx Collaborative in 2005
Participants in the eRx Collaborative are encouraged by these results. “We are
enthusiastic about the medical community’s response to e-prescribing,” said Vincent
Plourde, Vice President of provider technology at Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Massachusetts. “One million prescriptions in six months is a significant milestone.”
“The continued growth of the eRx Collaborative holds great promise for physicians,
pharmacists and patients in Massachusetts,” said Marianne Leahy, Vice President of
alliances at Tufts Health Plan. “This project demonstrates the ability we have to bring
improvements to our health care system through collaboration.”
“Converting to e-prescribing represents dramatic behavior change by physicians in a fundamental aspect of patient care. Behavior change is never easy. We applaud the
physicians who have accepted the challenge in adopting this technology,” said Jim
Glauber, Medical Director, Neighborhood Health Plan. He further stated that the
company will continue to encourage the wider adoption by Massachusetts’ physicians
who are still putting pen to prescription pad.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), Tufts Health Plan and Neighborhood
Health Plan are members of the Massachusetts eRx Collaborative. The plans formed the
Collaborative to jumpstart the use of comprehensive e-prescribing technology in
Massachusetts. The program offers physicians the goals of improved patient safety and reduced
medical costs. The eRx Collaborative uses applications developed by Zix Corporation
(PocketScript®) and DrFirst (Rcopia™). The companies are supporting members of the
Collaborative.
The eRx Collaborative makes it easy for physicians and other prescribers who participate
in multiple health plan networks to prescribe for all patients via a handheld device and/or
Web browser. The health plans provide sponsorship for the device, a license fee, six
months of Internet connectivity where applicable, and one year of service. Prescribers are
able to access enhanced information when prescribing for patients in participating plans,
such as patient eligibility and formulary information. In addition, the program enables
prescribers to:
• Access patient-specific drug histories to determine the patient’s current and past
prescriptions
• Create new and renew prescriptions electronically
• Send prescriptions for non-controlled substances directly to the pharmacy via fax
or by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and/or print the prescription to paper
• Check for drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions
• Check for formulary coverage
• Access drug reference guide
Converting to e-prescribing can increase the safety and efficiency of the prescribing
process. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine found that medical errors account for up to
98,000 deaths every year. In 2004, HealthGrades estimated the number of these deaths to
be nearly double that of deaths from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer or AIDS.
“The continued growth of the eRx Collaborative holds great promise for physicians,
pharmacists and patients in Massachusetts,” said Marianne Leahy, Vice President of
alliances at Tufts Health Plan. “This project demonstrates the ability we have to bring
improvements to our health care system through collaboration.”
“Converting to e-prescribing represents dramatic behavior change by physicians in a
fundamental aspect of patient care. Behavior change is never easy. We applaud the
physicians who have accepted the challenge in adopting this technology,” said Jim
Glauber, Medical Director, Neighborhood Health Plan. He further stated that the
company will continue to encourage the wider adoption by Massachusetts’ physicians
who are still putting pen to prescription pad.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), Tufts Health Plan and Neighborhood
Health Plan are members of the Massachusetts eRx Collaborative. The plans formed the
Collaborative to jumpstart the use of comprehensive e-prescribing technology in
Massachusetts. The program offers physicians the goals of improved patient safety and reduced
medical costs. The eRx Collaborative uses applications developed by Zix Corporation
(PocketScript®) and DrFirst (Rcopia™). The companies are supporting members of the
Collaborative.
The eRx Collaborative makes it easy for physicians and other prescribers who participate
in multiple health plan networks to prescribe for all patients via a handheld device and/or
Web browser. The health plans provide sponsorship for the device, a license fee, six
months of Internet connectivity where applicable, and one year of service. Prescribers are
able to access enhanced information when prescribing for patients in participating plans,
such as patient eligibility and formulary information. In addition, the program enables
prescribers to:
• Access patient-specific drug histories to determine the patient’s current and past
prescriptions
• Create new and renew prescriptions electronically
• Send prescriptions for non-controlled substances directly to the pharmacy via fax
or by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and/or print the prescription to paper
• Check for drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions
• Check for formulary coverage
• Access drug reference guide
Converting to e-prescribing can increase the safety and efficiency of the prescribing
process. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine found that medical errors account for up to
98,000 deaths every year. In 2004, HealthGrades estimated the number of these deaths to
be nearly double that of deaths from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer or AIDS.
“We have seen great value from PocketScript in our practice,” said Dr. Frederick Wikander of Chelmsford Primary Care. The patient safety features, including the drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checking have been a huge advantage as many patients tend to forget to tell their doctors what other medications they are taking.”
SureScripts showcased Dr. Alan Silken’s experience utilizing DrFirst’s Rcopia through the eRx Collaborative in a case study that can be found at www.surescripts.com. Dr. Silken states “I have found it [Rcopia] to be the most comprehensive and efficient e-prescribing program for myself and my staff. I went from 10 minutes [per renewal request] to less than a minute and in most cases seconds. All my renewals can be found in one place, and overall I went from spending two hours a day on renewals to 30 minutes each day.”
Further program evaluation will be conducted this year and plans for the eRx Collaborative in 2006 are currently underway.
About the eRx Collaborative
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), Tufts Health Plan, Neighborhood Health Plan, Zix Corporation and DrFirst have formed a collaboration to offer physicians a comprehensive ePrescribing program. The program is expected to improve patient safety and reduce medical costs.