eRx makes steady gains in California, report shows

Electronic prescribing is continues to grow steadily in California, potentially increasing the safety of the prescribing process, according to a new report from Cal eConnect.

About 25 percent of the state's physicians are sending prescriptions electronically, the report estimates, compared with 3 percent in 2007. At the same time, just 16 percent of eligible prescriptions are routed electronically, despite the fact that most community pharmacies are set up for ePrescribing. According to the study, while most patients have prescription benefit information and medication histories available from their health plans, the utilization of this information at the point-of-care is low. Only 18 percent of patient visits involved a prescription benefit query and only 10 percent involved a check of medication history. This measure does not include Kaiser Permanente and Veterans Affairs.