E-Prescribing (e-Rx) EMR Software has changed the way how healthcare operates by allowing clinicians and other medical staff to send prescription data digitally to pharmacies. Hand-written prescriptions are inefficient and can result in errors which are responsible for up to 440,000 deaths every year.
The advanced technology of E-prescribing programs is being embraced by hospitals in the United States to enhance patient safety, and medication adherence and improve administrative workflow.
How does the E-Prescribing (e-Rx) EMR software works?
E-prescribing is run by a software system that sends medication prescriptions electronically to pharmacies. When a patient comes to a prescriber, the prescriber can use the E-Prescribing software on their smartphone or tablet to write and send prescriptions. Refill requests can also be sent by the pharmacy to the prescriber via the powerful software solution.
Essential features of the e-Rx Software program
Hospitals should make sure that the following functionalities are offered by the E-Prescribing software:
- Choosing the prescription
- Generation of new prescription
- Medication submission
- Alerts and warnings
- Complete prescription history
- Refill request authorization
- Clinical decision support
- Electronically prescribing controlled substances (EPCS)
7 advantages of leveraging e-Rx software
- Reduce margin of error – E-prescriptions are extremely clear and accurate as compared to hand-written prescriptions. The dosage is precise which helps to reduce any medication and prescription errors. E-prescriptions provide precise information regarding how long the dosage needs to be taken by the patient and decrease the risk of improper dosage which leads to improved patient safety.
- Automatic alerts – A good e-Rx software system integrates with your Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software which offers the facility of instant clinical alerts. Most visits to the ER in the United States are caused by preventable adverse drug events which can be reduced with the functionality of e-prescribing as they prevent a clinician to prescribe a medication that the patient may be allergic to. Multiple treatments can also be avoided as many e-prescribing systems offer prompt alerts about duplicate therapies.
- Saves time for pharmacy employees – E-prescriptions are accurate and hence it saves time for pharmacy employees as they don’t have to verify medication orders by calling the prescriber. The e-Rx EMR system requires specific mandatory fields to be filled out before the order is sent which saves time as every important piece of information is complete.
- Meets the criteria of meaningful use – E-prescribing EMR software meets the complete requirements of meaningful use in the resulting methods; Stage 1 – Required 40% of prescriptions to be sent electronically, Stage 2 – More than 50% of prescriptions required to be sent electronically, Stage 3 – Entails more than 80% of prescriptions to be transmitted electronically.
- Prescribe controlled substances with no trouble – The robust E-prescribing software allows practitioners to easily prescribed controlled substances to pharmacies. This results in workflow productivity for the hospital staff and provides convenience to the patients.
- Easily prescribe medicines that are covered by health insurance – Patients comply with the medication they can afford. E-Prescribing programs make it easy for the prescriber to select generic medicine which is most like to be covered by the patient’s insurance.
- Cost savings – All the above-mentioned advantages can lead to cost savings. Practices have saved between $140 to $240 billion over the past ten years.
The e-prescribing platform is flexible and allows hospitals and practitioners to stay connected with national pharmacies to improve medication adherence and patient safety.
