Local e-prescribing initiative awarded for technology innovation

DETROIT In honor of its dedication to driving the adoption of e-prescribing technology in Michigan, the Southeast Michigan ePrescribing Initiative was presented with the 2010 Health Information Technology Innovation Leadership Award at the first annual Michigan HIT Leadership and Innovation Awards reception.

The award was instituted by the Michigan HIT Commission to acknowledge and promote the use of technology in Michigan's healthcare system. The goal of the 2010 HIT Innovation Awards: To raise awareness of HIT use and recognize the professionals, organizations and facilities who have advocated or supported the advancement of HIT and Health Information Exchange within the state.

SEMI was launched in 2005 to promote e-prescribing among physicians in Southeast Michigan. It consists of a coalition including CVS Caremark, General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group, the United Auto Workers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Health Alliance Plan, Henry Ford Medical Group and Medco Health Solutions.

Through Dec. 31, 2009, nearly 5,000 physicians had enrolled in SEMI. Over that time period, these prescribers have generated more than 18.2 million e-prescriptions. An analysis of 12.4 million prescriptions written by SEMI physicians since the program began found the following:

• Asevere or moderate drug-to-drug alert was sent to physicians for more than 3.5 million prescriptions (28%), resulting in nearly 1 million (33%) of those prescriptions being changed or canceled by the prescribing doctor;


• Physicians received nearly 334,000 medication allergy alerts;


• Nearly 1.5 million lists of dispensed prescription histories were downloaded by physicians; and


• When a formulary alert was presented, 33% of the time the physician changed the prescription to comply with formulary requirements.