With help from federal incentive payments, the use of e-prescribing technology increased dramatically during last year, according to a new report from the network operator Surescripts.
The paper, titled the National Progress Report on E-Prescribing and Interoperable Healthcare, indicates that rates of e-prescribing increased by 72 percent from 2009 to 2010. The number of electronic prescriptions jumped from 191 million to 326 million.
Furthermore, 36 percent of physicians were using electronic technologies to send patient prescriptions to pharmacies, and nearly one-quarter of all prescriptions were sent electronically in 2010. Rates of technology use were particularly high among cardiologists and family physicians.
The report cites two federal incentive programs for the rapid growth in e-prescribing. In 2010, physicians became eligible for a 2 percent bonus in reimbursements for treating Medicare patients if they were using an approved e-prescribing system. Also, sending prescriptions electronically is one of the requirements for the meaningful use standards of the electronic health records incentive program.
Given the fact that the latter initiative is just getting started, the use of e-prescribing technology may continue to see strong growth into the future.