Michigan coalition increases electronic prescriptions

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Michigan coalition increases electronic prescriptions

Posted Thursday, Jun 25, 2009, 2:22 pm in Employee News

A coalition of U.S. automakers (including Chrylser Group LLC), the UAW, health care providers and drug distributors has dramatically increased the number of electronic prescriptions made in Michigan and significantly reduced the number of prescription errors, potentially harmful drug interactions and allergic reactions and prescription costs.

The driving force behind the state’s embrace of e-prescribing is physicians participating in the Southeast Michigan e-prescribing Initiative (SEMI). The results come three years after the coalition came together and propelled Michigan to third in the nation in the use of electronic prescriptions. Nearly 4.9 million e-prescriptions were transmitted in Michigan in 2008.

As a result, Michigan received the Safe-Rx Award for finishing third among the top 10 e-prescribing states in the nation, rising from fifth place in 2008. The Safe-Rx Awards are given each year to the 10 states that transmit the most electronic prescriptions as a percentage of the total number of prescriptions eligible for electronic routing over the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange operated by Surescripts.

Launched in February 2005, the Southeast Michigan e-prescribing Initiative is one of the largest, employer-driven e-prescribing initiatives to encourage the adoption and use of e-prescribing, and measure the impact of e-prescribing technology on improving patient safety and reducing prescription drug costs. The coalition includes Chrysler Group LLC, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., United Auto Workers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Health Alliance Plan, Henry Ford Medical Group, Medco Health Solutions Inc. and CVS Caremark Corp.

“That Michigan is now among the top three states in the nation in e-prescribing speaks to the success of the SEMI program in significantly moving the needle when it comes to physicians’ adoption and use of this technology,” said Marsha Manning, Manager of Health Care Initiatives and Public Policy for General Motors, and a member of the SEMI e-prescribing Initiative Steering Committee. “Each year we’ve been improving on those numbers and by doing so have made pharmacy care safer for patients in Michigan, as well as helping to reduce costs for physician practices, employers and consumers. We see this as validation of SEMI’s leadership, financial investment and early belief in the value of e-prescribing.”

More than 3,800 physicians have enrolled in the initiative since its inception and have routed more than 13 million electronic prescriptions in that time period. An analysis of 9.5 million prescriptions written by SEMI physicians since the program began found the following:

• A severe or moderate drug-to-drug alert was sent to physicians for nearly 2.75 million prescriptions (or 29 percent), resulting in nearly 1 million (or 36 percent) of those prescriptions being changed or canceled by the prescribing doctor
• Physicians received nearly 260,000 medication allergy alerts
• Nearly 716,065 lists of dispensed prescription histories were downloaded by physicians
• When a formulary alert was presented, 36 percent of the time the physician changed the prescription to comply with formulary requirements