What is electronic prescribing? | HealthIT.gov (2024)

FAQs

What is electronic prescribing? | HealthIT.gov? ›

With electronic prescribing, or “e-Prescribing,” health care providers can enter prescription information into a computer device – like a tablet, laptop, or desktop computer – and securely transmit the prescription to pharmacies using a special software program and connectivity to a transmission network.

Electronic prescription (e-prescribing or e-Rx) is the computer-based electronic generation, transmission, and filling of a medical prescription, taking the place of paper and faxed prescriptions.

E-prescribing enables a prescriber to electronically send an accurate, error-free and understandable prescription directly to a pharmacy from the point-of-care and is an important element in improving the quality of patient care.

Differences in pharmacy and prescriber systems sometimes result in wrong patient selection. The Drawbacks of e-prescription design (mismatched text box sizes, mismatched drug names, mismatched patient/physician names, mismatched drug quantities, and inability to discontinue old prescription).

If you're on eRD, you: don't need to ring your GP or order a repeat prescription – your medication will already be waiting at the pharmacy for you when you need it. won't get a paper prescription.

This new service lets your GP practice send your prescription electronically to the place you choose to get your medication or appliance from – without the need for paper in some cases. This means there is less need for people with repeat prescriptions to call at their GP practice just to collect a prescription form.

The meaningful use concept is a term defined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It refers to the electronic health record technology used in a meaningful way to store, share, and exchange critical patient information to improve patient care.

The most errors were incomplete prescribing due to the omission of secondary diagnoses (251 out of 534 errors, 47.00%), followed by incorrect prescribing including improper dose (135, 25.28%), wrong frequency (45, 8.43%), wrong diagnosis (36, 6.74%), wrong route of administration (33, 6.18%) and other types of errors.

Results of this research study suggest that e-prescribing reduces prescribing errors, increases efficiency, and helps to save on healthcare costs.

Electronic prescribing (EP) in the hospital setting has the potential to improve safety through reduction of errors and adverse drug events. Evidence for the effects of EP on workflow and timesaving is mixed. Unintended consequences of the computerisation of prescribing are well documented.

What are the observed benefits of e-prescribing? ›

The American Medical Association (AMA) has acknowledged the benefits of e-prescribing functionalities, including the ability to review patient medication histories, formulary information and safety alerts, in order to help reduce the risk of adverse drug events and out-of-pocket costs for patients.

Customize medication lists: Customize medication lists within your e-prescribing system to include commonly used medications or exclude medications that are not applicable to your practice. This can save time when prescribing and reduce the risk of medication errors.

Proportion of Errors

This indicates that 6.6% of electronic prescriptions had errors. Similarly, for written prescriptions, the proportion was significantly higher: 1478 errors out of 3848 prescriptions, or approximately 0.384 or 38.4%.

Benefits of EPS for prescribers

During face-to-face, telephone or video consultations, prescriptions can be sent to the patient's nominated pharmacy, reducing footfall in the prescriber's location as patients collect their prescription from the pharmacy instead. No need to post prescriptions, saving time.

Electronic prescribing is a way for prescribers to send your prescriptions directly to your pharmacy. Electronic prescribing can save you money, time, and help keep you safe. You don't have to drop off and wait for your pharmacist to fill your prescription.

Typically, it takes up to 48 hours for an NHS prescription to be ready to be collected, but this can vary from one practice to another. If you have ordered a repeat prescription via the NHS app or through your NHS GP, then allow 2-3 working days for it to be sent to the pharmacy of your choice.

Minimise handwriting errors, saving time on clarifications and reducing errors, enhancing patient safety. Potentially offers more efficient prescription entry and transfer, thus reducing time spent on technicalities and allowing pharmacists to focus more on patient care.

The EMMS is part of a hospital-wide electronic medical record (EMR) consisting of various modules required for patient care, including observation charts, clinical documentation, and diagnostic tools. The EMMS is an end-to-end solution for medication management in the hospital setting.

E-prescribing, like any new technological development, comes with advantages and disadvantages. Some of the most appealing benefits include enhanced patient safety and decreased medication errors, reduced drug costs with FDS software, increased access to patient medication records, and improved pharmacy workflow.