Electronic prescribing, often described as the lowest hanging fruit in health IT, could be set to make a big leap forward as organizations in states such as Iowa look to provide free e-prescribing services for physicians and federal legislation starts to drive nationwide adoption of the technology.
The Iowa program, called ePrescribe Iowa, is a Web-based effort launched by Iowa Health System, a community-based integrated health care system, and Allscripts, a major provider of e-prescribing software. It will run on Iowa Health System’s HealthNet connect, a 3,200 mile-long fiberoptic network. It’s a standalone solution that the partners are touting as a first step in driving the adoption of electronic health records throughout the state. It shares that goal with the federal stimulus funds that will be provided to physicians under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
Less than 3 percent of all prescriptions written in Iowa in 2008 used e-prescribing, according to ePrescribe Iowa, citing figures produced by Surescripts, the largest U.S. e-prescribing network.
As the health IT incentives start to work and meaningful use measures are defined, Surescripts expects a rapid growth in e-prescribing. The 2009 figure will be double the 74,000 users 2008, and Ratliffe said some 30 percent of U.S. prescribers could be writing their scripts electronically by the end of 2010, with 50 percent or more e-prescribing by 2011.



Source: Government Health IT