FAQs
General FAQs:
Who is Surescripts?
What is e-prescribing?
What is the
Surescripts network?
Who created Surescripts?
Who owns Surescripts?
Where is Surescripts
located?
What
is Surescripts role outside the network?
How
does Surescripts support its operations?
How does Surescripts safeguard personal health information?
Why is
e-prescribing important?
How many physicians, pharmacies and payers use
e-prescribing?
National Progress Report on E-Prescribing FAQs:
What is the National Progress Report on E-Prescribing?
How do I get a copy?
What are some of the key findings?
When will you share use and adoption figures for 2009?
What factors most influenced the growth of e-prescribing in 2008?
What actions does Surescripts believe should be taken to further advance e-prescribing?
When will you come out with progress reports for the states?
Who is Surescripts?
Surescripts is dedicated to giving healthcare providers
secure, electronic access to prescription information that
can save their patients’ lives, improve efficiency and
reduce the cost of healthcare for all. Available during
emergencies or routine care across all 50 states and
Washington, DC, the Surescripts network is used every day by
thousands of physicians, pharmacists and payers nationwide
to exchange health information and prescribe without paper.
What is e-prescribing?
Electronic prescribing or “e-prescribing” is a way of
prescribing that is paperless and more informed. More
specifically, it is when a physician uses a computer or hand
held device with software that has been tested and certified
to:
| 1 |
With a patient’s
consent, electronically access that patient’s
prescription benefit. |
| 2 |
With a patient’s
consent, electronically access that patient’s
prescription history. |
| 3 | Electronically route the prescription to the patient’s choice of pharmacy. When the patient runs out of refills, their pharmacist can also electronically send a renewal request to the physician’s office for approval. |
For a demo of how e-prescribing works, click here.
What is the
Surescripts network?
Surescripts operates the country’s largest electronic
prescribing network. The Surescripts network is used every
day by thousands of physicians, pharmacists and payers to
securely, electronically process prescriptions and share
prescription information. Participants on the Surescripts
network include all of the nation’s major chain pharmacies
(e.g. CVS/pharmacy, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Wal-Mart), many of
the nation’s leading payers and PBMs (e.g. Aetna, CVS
Caremark, Express Scripts, Medco, Wellpoint) and over 10,000
independent pharmacies nationwide.
Who created
Surescripts?
Surescripts is the result of a 2008 merger between the
country’s two leading health information networks: RxHub and
Surescripts. RxHub was founded in 2001 by the nation’s three
largest PBMs – CVS Caremark Corporation, Express Scripts,
Inc. and Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Surescripts was also
formed in 2001 by the National Association of Chain Drug
Stores (NACDS) and the National Community Pharmacists
Association (NCPA).
Who owns Surescripts?
Surescripts is privately owned by the founders of
Surescripts and RxHub: NACDS and NCPA own 50 percent with
the balance split evenly between CVS Caremark, Express
Scripts and Medco Health Solutions.
Where is
Surescripts located?
Surescripts maintains two offices, one in St. Paul and one
in Alexandria.
What
is Surescripts role outside the network?
Simply put, Surescripts makes e-prescribing work. Our past,
present and ongoing work with organizations throughout the
U.S. healthcare system has – in five short years –
reinvented a process that is hundreds of years old. In
addition to operating the nationwide infrastructure that
supports e-prescribing, Surescripts plays a number of other
critical roles:
|
Certification – We
test and certify physician software vendors,
pharmacy software vendors as well as pharmacies
and payers for connections to the Surescripts
network. |
|
|
Standards – We work
with NCPDP, CCHIT, HITSP and other standards
bodies to develop, implement and evolve the
technical standards needed to securely and
effectively share health information. |
|
|
Education – We
conduct regular outreach to state and national
medical societies, state pharmacy associations,
state boards of pharmacy, payers, payer
associations and patient advocacy groups in an
effort to engage and educate all audiences with
a stake in reducing the cost of healthcare and
improving the safety and efficiency of
prescribing medications. |
|
|
Research – We
conduct regular research and development aimed
at continuously improving and adding more value
to e-prescribing. |
|
|
Adoption and
Utilization – We collaborate and provide
guidance to regional, state and national health
IT initiatives by sharing our first-hand
experience, statistics, research, case histories
and best practices. |
|
|
Advocacy – We are a leading voice and actor in the nation’s push to use information technology to create a better healthcare system. |
For a demo of how Surescripts and e-prescribing works, click here.
How does Surescripts support its operations?
Surescripts supports operations primarily through
transaction fees paid by the retail pharmacies and PBMs. All
but one of Surescripts services are provided to physician
software vendors and their physician users at no cost. (The
lone exception is medication reconciliation services for the
acute care setting.)
How does Surescripts safeguard personal health information?
Protecting the security and confidentiality of personal
health information is of extreme importance to Surescripts.
To read how we go about this, check out our
privacy policy.
Why is
e-prescribing important?
E-prescribing represents an unprecedented opportunity to
reduce healthcare costs and improve the safety and
efficiency of a process relied upon by millions of patients
every day. More specifically, e-prescribing benefits
physicians, pharmacists, payers and they patients they serve
in a number of ways:
Benefits to physicians
Displays economic alternatives for
patients
Eliminates errors from poor
handwriting or faxing
Reduces pharmacy callbacks
More convenient for patients
Less time spent on renewals
Opportunity to improve patient
adherence
Benefits to pharmacies
More prescriptions arrive “clean”,
less rework
Allows more time with patients
Reduces opportunity for errors
Preserves patient choice of pharmacy
More convenient for patients
Opportunity to improve patient
adherence
Benefits to payers
Improves quality of care
Drives down healthcare costs
Saves beneficiaries money
Reduces medication errors
For more information about how this is happening throughout
the U.S. today,
click here.
How many physicians, pharmacies and payers use
e-prescribing?
For the latest figures on e-prescribing use in the U.S.,
visit the E-Prescribing Statistics page at
www.surescripts.com/stats.
What is the National Progress Report on E-Prescribing?
|
|
The National Progress Report on E-Prescribing Report provides a summary of key statistics detailing the status of e-prescribing adoption and use in the U.S. |
|
|
It does this by tracking actual electronic prescribing activity through the Surescripts® network between 2006 and 2008. |
|
|
The Report includes a detailed analysis of the individual variables that most influenced e-prescribing in 2008 and concludes with recommendations on how to continue to accelerate the growth of e-prescribing. |
|
|
The Report was created to better inform and support efforts aimed at helping to drive the overall adoption and use of e-prescribing technology. |
|
|
Download it from the E-Prescribing Statistics page on the Surescripts Web site www.surescripts.com/e-prescribing-statistics.html |
What are some of the key findings?
|
|
By the end of 2008, there were 74,000 active prescribers – vs. 36,000 at the end of 2007 and 16,000 in 2006. |
|
|
Prescriber use of benefit information and prescription history grew from 37 million in 2007 to 78 million in 2008 and from 6 million in 2007 to 16 million in 2008, respectively. |
|
|
Prescriptions routed electronically more than doubled from 29 million in 2007 to 68 million in 2008. |
|
|
By the end of 2008, increased participation by payers in e-prescribing enabled access to prescription benefit and history information for 65 percent of patients in the U.S. |
|
|
Seven states are connected to the Surescripts network through their pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to deliver prescription information for fee-for-service Medicaid patients. |
|
|
At the end of 2008, approximately 76 percent of community pharmacies and six of the largest mail-order pharmacies in the U.S. were connected for prescription routing. |
When will you share use and adoption figures for 2009?
The April 22nd press release announcing the National Progress Report includes some details regarding e-prescribing use and adoption in the first quarter of 2009 National Progress Report - Press release. We will review the National Progress Report as well as present use and adoption statistics for Q1 2009 during an upcoming Webinar.
What factors most influenced the growth of e-prescribing in 2008?
|
|
Significant attention focused on e-prescribing at the federal and state policy level, |
|
|
National programs drove e-prescribing and offered practical tools to assist the industry in moving forward, and |
|
|
E-prescribing adoption accelerated among key groups: payers (including pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and Medicaid plans), prescribers, and pharmacies. |
What actions does Surescripts believe should be taken to further advance e-prescribing?
|
|
Action #1: Continue to work with the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to pass regulations that allow controlled substances to be electronically prescribed in a way that is workable and scalable.
|
|
Action #2: Work to ensure that “meaningful use” under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 requires the actual use of e-prescribing.
|
|
Action #3: Fill gaps in e-prescribing participation among payers, state Medicaid programs and independent pharmacies.
|
|
ction #4: Raise awareness across the industry and encourage deployment and use of e-prescribing – encompassing prescription benefit, prescription history and prescription routing.
|
|
Action #5: Provide education, financial incentives and implementation assistance for all prescribers, with a particular focus on addressing the needs of small and medium-size practices.
| |
When will you come out with progress reports for the states?
|
|
Surescripts will soon release individual state progress reports and announce the latest rankings of all 50 states plus Washington, DC as part of the 4th Annual Safe-Rx Awards. To receive notice regarding the state progress reports, state rankings and Safe-Rx Awards, go to http://surescripts.com/news-sign-up.html. |
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