E-prescribing apps still dogged by problems

Despite a great deal of happy talk by regulators, legislators and vendors, doctors are still not that enthusiastic about e-prescribing. According to one study by the Center for Studying Health System Change, most doctors who switch to e-prescribing wouldn't go back to paper prescribing. But getting there is difficult, observers say. Rolling out e-prescribing technology is still costly and difficult. To date, few if any e-prescribing applications have proven simple to install, researchers say. Not only that, e-prescribing apps may be hard to master, particularly given that EMR standards from the CCHIT don't take usability into account. Yet another problem is that health plans aren't doing a good job of providing complete, updated formulary information for use by e-prescribing systems.

To get more background on e-prescribing adoption:
- read this Modern Physician article

Related Articles:
Ohio health system rolls out e-prescribing. Report
NH governor backs e-prescribing. Report
Here's proof: E-prescribing saves bucks, lives. Report