Clinicians Increasingly Support E-Prescribing
A study conducted on behalf of the Southeastern Michigan ePrescribing Initiative (SEMI) revealed that physicians who have the opportunity to participate in an e-prescribing program are more likely to support use of the tool in day-to-day practice. The researchers involved in the effort suggest that these findings will encourage more clinicians to adopt e-prescribing. An article describing the study findings was published by Healthcare IT News.
The survey completed assessed a group of 500 physician practices participating in a three year pilot study to where practices employed e-prescribing technology. HaldyMcIntosh & Associates completed the survey on behalf of SEMI.
Over eighty percent of prescriptions written by survey respondents are completed electronically. As well, forty percent of those surveyed use e-prescribing exclusively. More than seventy percent of those surveyed stated that they were very satisfied with their e-prescribing technology. In fact, nine of ten respondents said that e-prescribing technology met their expectations.
The respondents noted benefits of the tool; almost seventy percent of respondents believe that e-prescribing improves care quality. About seventy-five percent believe that such improves safety. Perceived safety benefits include safety alerts about drug-drug interactions and drug allergy risks while prescriptions are being written.
The tool is associated with decreased workflow; over half surveyed strongly agreed that the tool increases productivity and saves time for healthcare providers. More than seventy percent of the respondents noted that there were less frequent calls from pharmacies to clarify prescriptions requests. Almost forty percent considered the reduction in calls substantial.
Though these findings are promising, the issue of cost was not really discussed. Cost continues to be the most significant factor preventing clinicians from adopting information technology tools to improve healthcare quality and safety alike, as described in previous posts on HospitalBuyer. Interestingly, twenty-five percent did not believe that e-prescribing would reduce costs for either their practices or patients.
March 14, 2008 Related topics: Standards, Trends, Quality, Safety, Errors, Materials Management