Indiana Health IT Blog

The proof of the benefits of e-prescribing is undeniable and growing daily. When a basic CPOE (computerized physician order entry) is used, it reduces the odds of medication errors by 70%. ⁽¹⁾ To date, the estimated savings from preventing adverse drug events alone totaled $4.64 billion. ⁽²⁾

The following data was acquired by ONC from Surescripts, the nation's leading e-prescription network.

• There are currently 8,271 total e-prescribers in the State of Indiana which is an increase of 480 in just 3 months.
• 47.1% of office-based Indiana physicians sent an electronic prescription via Surescripts while the national average is 43%.
• There are currently 74% of e-prescribers in Indiana that send more than 20 e-prescriptions monthly while nationally, the number is 71%. We hope to see this number grow both nationally and statewide in the near future.
• Tracking the distribution of new prescriptions and renewal requests on the Surescripts network is a useful way to assess the robustness of HIE. Renewal requests are more complicated than new because it is a two-way transaction (pharmacist must identify and locate the original prescriber) whereas a new prescription is a one-way process. 84% of prescriptions in the State are new while 16% are renewal.

For more information click on the link to take you directly to their website.

Surescripts

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

ONC

(1) Devine et. al (2010)

(2) Center for IT Leadership (2010)