Earlier today, two of the leading entities in the pharmacy industry announced collaboration with Medco Health Solutions, Inc., to promote the use of e-prescriptions.  The collaboration has earned the approval of many of the nation’s doctors, some of whom already use electronic means for writing prescriptions instead of the paper-based methods traditionally used.

One goal of the collaboration is to address the $3.5 billion spent each year in the United States on the 1.5 million medication errors considered preventable by industry standards.

Medco began working with healthcare plans and private employers for e-prescribing pilot programs in 2005.  The corporation founded the largest pharmacy currently in operation on the internet, which processed 55% of all electronic prescriptions transmitted during the first three months of 2008.

Medco is also a founding member of  RxHub, a consortium launched in 2001, to support pharmacy benefits management companies.  Today’s Medco press release announces the merger between RxHub and SureScripts technologies into one standardized platform for processing e-prescriptions.  SureScripts represents retail pharmacies.

According to a recent physician survey:

• 75% of the prescribing physicians who responded to the survey feel strongly that e-prescriptions improve patient safety.
• Almost 70% report improvements in quality of care.
• Doctors surveyed say 80% of their prescriptions are written electronically.
• 40% of the respondents say their medical practices rely on electronic prescriptions exclusively.
• More than 70% say electronic prescriptions reduce the number of prescription-related questions from pharmacies.
• More than half say electronic prescriptions saves them time and increases their productivity.