ePrescribing

Electronic prescribing allows physicians to digitally prescribe drugs, while increasing the efficiency of communication with the pharmacy and greatly reducing the risk of error associated with handwritten paper scripts. Because of its ability to automatically create an accurate record of a patient's prescription history, ePrescribing is usually considered a fundamental aspect of a fully integrated electronic health records system.

RELATED STORIES: 
Pharmacists rally for tougher e-prescribing rules
Surescripts: E-prescribing has reached its tipping point
 

 
eRx makes steady gains in California, report shows
February 8, 2012 | Diana Manos
Electronic prescribing continues to grow steadily in California, potentially increasing the safety of the prescribing process, according to a new report from Cal eConnect.
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Minnesota: A healthy appreciation for HIT
February 2, 2012 | Mike Miliard
With Minnesota's GOP caucus set for Feb. 7, we spoke to the North Star State's health IT honcho about public-private partnerships, electronic health records, health information exchange, telehealth and more. Often billed as the healthiest state in the U.S., Minnesota has long been a healthcare IT leader.
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Bipartisan Policy Center calls for more, better health IT
January 27, 2012 | Bernie Monegain
A think tank with a healthcare task force chaired by former Senators Tom Daschle, a Democrat, and Bill Frist, MD, a Republican, is advocating for improved and better-used health information technology. Among the group's recommendations is "robust" data exchange.
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Neupert to join Brailer's Health Evolution Partners
January 26, 2012 | Bernie Monegain
Former Microsoft Health Solutions Group executive Peter Neupert will join Health Evolution Partners, a venture capital firm launched by former National Coordinator for Health IT David Brailer, MD, as an operating partner.
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AMA urges greater focus on ambulatory care safety
January 9, 2012 | Bernie Monegain
Outpatient visits can put some patients at risk, according to a new report from the American Medical Association. The report concludes that research is lacking in this area, and calls for greater and more focused attention, intervention and resources on ambulatory care safety.
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Epic tops 2011 Best in KLAS Awards
December 16, 2011 | Mike Miliard
KLAS has unveiled its annual "Best in KLAS Awards" for software and professional services in 2011, ranking the best-performing healthcare IT vendors in more than 100 market segments based on ratings from over 18,000 interviews with healthcare providers.
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eRx worthwhile, but still problematic for docs, pharmacies
November 22, 2011 | Mike Miliard
A new study by the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality finds that physician practices and pharmacies are both keen on e-prescribing's ability to improve safety and save time -- but that both groups face barriers to realizing its full potential.
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European hospitals receive Stage 6 designation from HIMSS Analytics
November 21, 2011 | Jamie Thompson
HIMSS Analytics has designated three European hospitals as Stage 6 on its Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) scale. The hospitals will be recognized at HIMSS Europe's CIO Summit in Geneva on November 22.
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IOM to release new report on health IT and patient safety
November 4, 2011 | Bernie Monegain
Citing concerns raised over the potential harm that could stem from a digital healthcare system, the Institute of Medicine, best known for its 1999 report on medical errors "To Err is Human," is poised to release another report -- this time on the risks associated with electronic health records.
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Successful eRx requires 'three-phased approach'
October 6, 2011 | Molly Merrill
A new study profiling how five physician practices successfully overcame their e-prescribing challenges has determined that the common thread among them was that each had carefully moved through three phrases: planning, implementation and use of the systems.
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AMA warns docs of looming eRX deadline
October 5, 2011 | Mike Miliard
The American Medical Association on Wednesday urged physicians who are not able to meet the requirements of the Medicare ePrescribing program to apply for a hardship exemption before the November 1 deadline to avoid monetary penalties in 2012.

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Employers, payers jump onto Health 2.0 bandwagon
September 27, 2011 | Patty Enrado
They might be late to the Health 2.0 party, they said. However, a panel of employers and healthcare insurers at the Health 2.0 conference on Monday made it clear they are ready to play.
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An IDC Health Insights and Intel Webcast: mHealth and The Second Wave of Clinical Mobility
November 23, 2011 | On Demand Webinars
Driven by a history of innovation, Intel is focusing its game-changing technologies on transforming healthcare to enable connected, coordinated, cost-effective care based on each person's health goals and history, enhancing prevention, focusing treatment, and improving outcomes.
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Cutting Through the Hype: Evaluating Tablet PCs for Point-of-Care Productivity
October 5, 2011 | White Papers
Tablet PCs are more popular than ever. They're mobile, powerful and proven to help clinicians enhance productivity and efficiency. However, with more tablet PCs available than ever before, how do you choose the right tablet PC for your workflow? In this paper, Cheryl Parker, Senior Clinical Informatics Specialist, will evaluate tablet PCs for point-of-care productivity by exploring their integration into healthcare environments and the resulting benefits.
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Cost Cutting Strategies for Improving the Delivery of Explanation of Benefits and Securing Health Information Exchange
September 18, 2011 | On Demand Webinars
This webinar will discuss cost-cutting strategies for securing sensitive patient communications, focusing on the delivery of Explanation of Benefits (EOBs), as well as other direct and portal-based electronic interactions that need to comply with HIPAA Privacy Rules.
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Mobile Clinical Assistants: Putting the cart before the horse?
July 1, 2011 | White Papers
Given the potential for improved quality of care, cost savings, and patient safety benefits, optimizing mobility for healthcare applications is too important to ignore. In this paper, VDC Research examines the key questions surrounding the adoption of the Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) in healthcare environments.
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Providers' Perceptions Series: Mobility in Healthcare
May 13, 2011 | On Demand Webinars
Billian's HealthDATA and Porter Research will present the findings of a primary market research survey studying providers' perceptions of the use of mobile technologies in clinical and administrative areas to ultimately improve quality of care and meet healthcare reform initiatives.
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Reimagining the U.S. Healthcare System: Investing in Innovative Health IT to Support the 21st Century Personal Health Model
March 26, 2011 | White Papers
Limited resources, rising healthcare spending and the graying population are negatively impacting quality, access and cost of healthcare. Eric Dishman lays out the foundation for a new personal health model and illustrates how innovative health IT can enable this patient-centric vision.
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The 4Cs of Global Healthcare Reform
March 7, 2011 | On Demand Webinars
The HITECH Act and meaningful use are not the only impetuses of healthcare technology advancement. Meaningful use of health IT is about far more than just having access to an electronic version of our chart. Technology must allow us to do care differently, with different resources, and sometimes in different places: at home, at work, and on-the-go...in addition to traditional clinics and hospitals. Join Eric Dishman as he presents the 4Cs of global healthcare reform that are driving IT innovation.
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A Complimentary Podcast: Medical Home at Oklahoma University
April 16, 2009 | On Demand Webinars
Oklahoma University will discuss how the university came to the decision to move to a medical home model of care, as well as OU's plans to establish itself as a center of research excellence for the medical home.
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The End of the Beginning... and the Launch of i2O
August 28, 2011 | Glen Tullman
When Dr. Farzad Mostashari, the national coordinator for health information technology, addresses more than 4,700 healthcare professionals at the Allscripts Client Experience in Nashville on Monday morning, Aug. 29, he’s likely to discuss one of the most exciting developments in healthcare today – and perhaps surprisingly, it won’t be the meaningful use of electronic health records.
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Avoid the 1% e-Prescribing Penalty!
July 12, 2011 | Donald Johnston
The Federal Government's commitment to advancing healthcare IT is seen in its "carrot and stick" approach. Now, for the first time, physicians who are not yet e-prescribing are feeling the “stick” end of the equation.
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2009 in Review - Part 2
December 30, 2009 | John Halamka
As I've said in my blog about "The Number 5" I tend to organize my life and my projects in groups of 5. My 2009 Review has five segments - Harvard Medical School, State projects, and Federal projects which I presented yesterday plus Beth Israel Deaconess and my personal life which I'll present today.
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A BIDMC progress report on interoperability
December 14, 2009 | John Halamka
Like many complex healthcare systems, BIDMC does not have a one size fits all solution for ambulatory records. Although we favor integrated systems, we need to achieve interoperability via interfaces between two EHRs - a home built web-based product called webOMR and a commercial hosted version of eClinicalWorks.
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Certification versus meaningful use
November 10, 2009 | John Halamka
Recently, clinicians have asked me "why should I implement my organization's preferred EHR when I've found a less expensive vendor that promises meaningful use?"
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CCHIT's Latest Gambit
September 15, 2009 | Glenn Laffel
Many of us have enjoyed a few good minutes of fun having our fortunes told by soothsayers who claim they can predict our future based on patterns of tea leaves in a cup or the playing cards we’ve pulled from a deck.
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Finally, A Reasonable Plan for Certification of EHR Technologies
August 4, 2009 |
David Kibbe
Brian Klepper
A caution to readers: This post is about methods for certifying Electronic Health Record (EHR) technologies used by physicians, medical practices, and hospitals who hope to qualify for federal incentive payments under the so-called HITECH portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
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International EHR Adoption
July 6, 2009 | John Halamka
I was recently asked to compare EHR adoption in the US to other countries. Based on my own experience and the comments I received from colleagues, there are three aspects to consider...
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A new approach to certification
June 22, 2009 | John Halamka
Last week I spoke with Mark Leavitt, the CEO of CCHIT, about his best thinking regarding certification in a post-ARRA world.
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The National HIT organizations - How it all works
June 9, 2009 | John Halamka
Several blog readers have asked me to take a fresh look at all the organizations related to ARRA and explain how it all works. Here's my understanding...
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Catalyzing the app store for EHRs
June 5, 2009 |
Steve Downs
John Lumpkin
Recently, Steve posted about the idea, floated by Ken Mandl and Zak Kohane, that EHRs (or health IT more broadly) could move to a model of competitive, substitutable applications running off a platform that would provide secure medical record storage. In other words, the iPhone app model...
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The Health IT Stimulus and FQHCs - Don't Forget About Us!
May 8, 2009 | James Kahn
There is a critical element in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that targets funds for Federally-Qualified Community Health Centers. Some of the $1.5 billion in infrastructure funding from the HITECH section of the ARRA may be used for "acquisition of Health Information Technology (HIT) systems" and all FQHCs are eligible for these funds.
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Joint Statement from Surescripts and Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, CVS/pharmacy and Partners Healthcare Regarding Recent Study Published in JAMIA
July 12, 2011 | Industry News Release
The following statement was issued today by Surescripts and the authors of the study “Errors associated with outpatient computerized prescribing systems,” which was published online recently by the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
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Study: e-prescribing not immune from common mistakes
June 30, 2011 | Industry News Release
Outpatient electronic prescribing systems don't cut out the common mistakes made in manual systems, suggests research published online in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA).
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Visual Healthcare Corp. Signs Deal for Enhanced Lab Application
May 10, 2011 | Industry News Release
Visual Healthcare Corp. (the "Company") (NASDAQ OTC: VSHC) announces today that it has entered into an agreement with Sygenics Life Sciences Software (Sygenics LSS) to market a 2nd generation of Lab Automation applications to serve the scientific community. This allows researchers to replace paper-based scientific records and paper-based scrapbooks with more dependable and secure electronic storage capabilities, as well as the ability to instantaneously share information with other scientists of their choice.
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New e-prescribing guide available
April 27, 2011 | Industry News Release
Five partner organizations today issued an updated 2011 edition of A Clinician’s Guide to Electronic Prescribing. This “how-to” guide helps health care professionals make informed decisions about how and when to transition from paper to e-prescribing systems.
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