Software vendors enlist in campaign to extend e-prescribing among indies

ALEXANDRIA, Va. In a bid to spur the adoption of electronic prescribing among owner-operated pharmacies, 13 leading pharmacy software vendors have signed onto a new industry outreach campaign to help independent pharmacies overcome barriers to e-prescribing.

The goal: “To educate pharmacists on the economic and clinical benefits of e-prescribing and the simple steps they need to take to get started,” according to SureScripts, the pharmacy-sanctioned e-prescribing platform provider.

“The campaign is designed to raise awareness of the benefits of e-prescribing and offer instructions on how pharmacies can enable e-prescribing at their stores,” explained SureScripts spokesman Rob Cronin. The 13 software vendors involved in the campaign will work directly with their independent and small-chain customers to help them link up with SureScripts’ Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, Cronin said.

The companies participating are Best Computer Systems, CarePoint, Cerner Etreby, Computer-Rx, DAA Enterprises, Data Doc, Health Business Systems, Healthcare Computer Corporation, McKesson Pharmacy Systems, Micro Merchant Systems – PrimeRx, OPUS-ISM, QS/1 and Rx30 Pharmacy Management System.

“I want to congratulate these pharmacy software vendors for stepping up to the plate and announcing their commitment to help spread the word about e-prescribing,” said Bruce Roberts, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the National Community Pharmacists Association. “Their efforts to help automate independent pharmacies will help ensure the continued and valuable role played by our member pharmacies.”

The announcement comes on the heels of new research that showed an 11 percent increase in new prescriptions filled after physicians began e-prescribing. Conducted by SureScripts and Walgreen Co. using prescribing data from IMS Health, the research indicates that “as many, if not more, patients picked up their prescriptions when they were sent electronically to their pharmacy … as compared to handwritten, printed, faxed or telephoned prescriptions,” Cronin noted.