E-Prescribing Safeguards Patients
13 Oct 2008
EDS Helps Launch Nation's First Statewide Medicaid Electronic Prescription
Confusing abbreviations, transposed numbers, illegible notations – they all pose problems for anyone trying to decipher sloppy handwriting. But when the poor penmanship appears on a medical prescription, the results can be deadly.
Wretched writing among physicians is just one of the problems fueling an alarming trend of errors in the prescribing and dispensing of medications. According to a study conducted by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, at least 1.5 million preventable adverse drug events take place in the United States each year. From drug interactions and dosing errors to improperly filled prescriptions, these incidents threaten the public's well-being and cost the healthcare industry millions of dollars.
Fortunately, improved information technology is helping to guard against these dangerous errors. EDS, an HP company, is at the forefront of this life-saving effort.
E-Prescribing Network Targets Errors and Inefficiencies
Recognizing the need to reduce medical errors and minimize the risk of hazardous drug reactions, EDS and the State of Delaware's Health and Social Services/Division of Medicaid & Medical Assistance (DMMA) are nearing completion of the country's first interactive statewide Medicaid e-prescribing network.
Funded by a $1 million transformation grant from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and scheduled for launch later this year, the Delaware network will enable healthcare providers to securely access Medicaid patient eligibility data and medication histories. That means physicians are less likely to order new medications that might cause illness or injury when combined with a patient's existing prescription regimen. Those providers also will receive alerts to potential drug interactions and be able to send secure electronic prescriptions directly to pharmacies, significantly reducing the odds of pharmacists misinterpreting doctors' orders and potentially putting patients at risk.
The network will bring new operational efficiencies to the state agency and will help to combat the fraudulent diversion of prescription medications, but patient care remains the system's chief priority.
“This new system is all about accuracy and patient safety,” said DMMA Director Harry Hill. “Hand-written prescriptions have the potential to lead to serious errors and inefficiencies that can adversely affect patients. The Delaware Medicaid e-Prescribing Network will provide practitioners with user-friendly drug references and benefit coverage information that will result in secure, accurate, legible prescriptions for pharmacists.”
“E-prescribing will be a vital part of health care delivery in the 21st century,” said Barbara Anderson, vice president, health and human services for EDS. “Up to 5 percent of all prescriptions are incomplete or unclear, generating 150 million unnecessary phone calls between providers and pharmacists every year. This system will clarify and streamline that process and improve patient safety at the same time.”
EDS developed the e-prescribing network in conjunction with subcontractors DrFirst of Rockville, Md., and SureScripts-RxHub of St. Paul, Minn.
EDS Remains Committed to Serving the Healthcare Industry
Doctors, pharmacists, dentists and other healthcare providers have recently completed training in the use of Delaware's new statewide Medicaid e-prescribing network. Meanwhile, representatives from other states are working with EDS to develop similar networks of their own.
The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has recommended that all physicians and pharmacies adopt e-prescription technology by the year 2010. EDS is poised as a prime ally for assisting healthcare providers in meeting that goal.
EDS touches more than 200 million patient lives annually, processing about 1 billion Medicaid claims a year – far more than any other company. As the country's largest processor of health care claims, EDS is uniquely suited to help organizations take advantage of the latest technology advances to address the critical goals of lowering costs, improving care and increasing efficiency.
With 7,000 professionals dedicated to serving the health care sector, EDS provides a comprehensive range of end-to-end services such as Medicaid fiscal agent services; health care analytics and decision support services; health care fraud, abuse and detection services and electronic health records.