e-Prescribing Utilization Continues to Increase

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e-Prescribing has been on a steady growth curve for the past decade and a new study by the American Journal of Managed Care reveals it has increased eight-fold over the past five years.  Survey results highlight the percentage of doctors, nurses and PA’s e-Prescribing in the U.S. has increased from seven percent in 2008 to 54 percent in 2012.  Specifically, the number of e-Prescribers increased from 47,000 to 398,000.

From 2008 to 2012, retail pharmacies e-Prescribing on the Surescripts network increased 24 percent to more than 59,000 pharmacies.  According to the Surescripts website, that number has increased further to 64,000 retail pharmacies and six of the largest mail order pharmacies nationwide.

With meaningful use, e-Prescribing utilization is expected to rise even more.  In conclusion, “this study shows positive emerging trends in electronic prescribing by demonstrating accelerated growth in adoption of electronic prescribing at both provider and pharmacy level.  Continuous efforts and focused investments can be expected to diminish most of the barriers to implementation in the future.”

Click here to read the full summary.