Medical groups advocate e-prescribing

In the past, much of the push toward e-prescribing has come from government officials or technology vendors. Now, that seems to be changing. This week, a group of five medical organizations have come together for a campaign designed to persuade physicians to switch from paper to e-prescribing technology. The organizations, which include the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics, hope to reach the whopping 94 percent of doctors who still don't e-prescribe. Right now, group leaders said, even doctors who have an EMR in place are often faxing prescriptions to pharmacies, at which point the data has to be re-entered into a computer (a potential source for errors to be introduced).

To help doctors make the switch, the group has developed the "Get Connected" campaign, which includes their GetRxConnected.com website. The site includes a technology guide, testimonies from e-prescribing doctors and a list of connected pharmacies.

To learn more about this effort:
- read this PC World item

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