E-RX Use On the Rise Locally and Nationally
HIXNY Continues to Offer No-Cost Solution to Region’s Clinicians through 2010
ALBANY, NY (June 29, 2010) -Healthcare Information Xchange of New York (HIXNY), a not-for-profit organization comprising local physician groups, hospitals, health care associations, health plans, institutions of higher learning, government, employers and other healthcare entities announced today that e-prescribing (e-RX) use is on the rise locally and nationally. HIXNY reports over 160 local clinicians using HIXNY e-RX in their daily clinical work. This represents an 853 percent increase from one year ago. To promote more local adoption, HIXNY will continue to offer HIXNY e-RX free of charge through 2010 for interested physicians in the Greater Capital Region and Northern New York.
Nationally, the upward trend in utilization is similar. SureScripts, operator of the country's largest electronic prescribing network, recently released the 2009 National Progress Report on E-Prescribing detailing significant increases in the use of e-prescribing technology. It reports that electronic requests for prescription benefit information grew from 79 million in 2008 to 303 million in 2009, a 284 percent increase. In addition, the number of prescribers using e-prescribing more than doubled, from 74,000 at the end of 2008 to 156,000 by the end of 2009.
E-prescribing allows physicians to use computers to review drug and formulary coverage for a patient, and write and transmit prescriptions to a local pharmacy. E-prescribing also gives physicians comprehensive patient and drug information to help ensure accuracy and patient safety, and provides physicians with an efficient system to manage medication adherence and refills. HIXNY e-RX is integrated with the health information exchange (HIE) for physicians who are affiliated with HIXNY member organizations, and is available as a standalone system for non-affiliated physicians
"E-prescribing offers significant benefits to physicians and patients," stated Dr. Louis Snitkoff, HIXNY chairman and Medical Director of CapitalCare Medical Group. "Each time an electronic prescription replaces a paper one, the patient receives higher quality care that is safer and more efficient."
HIXNY is making this technology available, along with training and technical support, to physicians that may not have the technical resources to implement such a system independently.
The HIXNY e-RX system is certified as a qualified e-prescribing system by SureScripts, meeting established functionality standards for e-prescribing, e-refills, prescription history, patient eligibility, and formulary compliance. Physicians who use the HIXNY e-RX solution may be eligible for financial incentives through Medicare, as outlined in the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), and new incentives recently announced by the New York State Medicaid program.
For additional information about HIXNY's e-RX solution, physicians should visit www.hixny.org/e-prescribing or contact HIXNY's e-RX implementation coordinator at (518) 357-3689.