SURESCRIPTS RELEASES ANNUAL STATE RANKINGS AND PROGRESS REPORTS DETAILING E-PRESCRIBING USE AND ADOPTION STATISTICS FOR ALL 50 STATES
Massachusetts Prescribers Now Route More Than 20 Percent of Prescriptions Electronically, Followed by Rhode Island at 17 Percent
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen and Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas Accept Safe-Rx™ Award, Highlighting States’ Improved Use of E-Prescribing
WASHINGTON, – At an event at the National Press Club, Surescripts announced today that Massachusetts ranks first in the nation when it comes to routing prescriptions electronically. According to the results of an annual nationwide audit of electronic prescriptions routed in 2008, it was determined that prescribers in the Bay State sent more than 6.7 million prescriptions electronically, representing 20.5 percent of all eligible prescriptions in the state – as compared to 2.3 percent in 2005. For this accomplishment, Massachusetts was recognized, along with 14 other states, at the fourth annual Safe-Rx Awards.
Surescripts created the Safe-Rx Awards to raise awareness of e-prescribing as a means of enhancing patient safety by providing a more secure, accurate and informed prescribing process.
“Congratulations to all the Safe-Rx Award winners for increasing the use of e-prescribing and for the benefit it has brought to the economy, safety and quality of patient care in communities throughout their states,” said Harry Totonis, president and CEO of Surescripts. “And as much as this program is about measuring and recognizing real success, its greater purpose is to highlight the leaders who are driving that success and the stories of how they are doing it. As the numbers and rankings suggest, each year there are more and more examples of how a state and the various stakeholders within the state can work together to drive e-prescribing adoption and use. We congratulate those leaders and hope that their examples will inspire and inform many more successful efforts in many more states in the year ahead.” More Here EMR