E-Prescribing Hits 1 Million in Massachusetts

The first half of 2005 has been successful for the Massachusetts eRx Collaborative—1 million prescriptions have been sent electronically. The eRx Collaborative is an easy and convenient way for physicians and other prescribers who participate in multiple health plan networks to prescribe medications for patients, using a handheld device and/or a Web browser. The program allows prescribers to do the following:

• Access patient-specific drug histories to determine current and past prescriptions
• Create new prescriptions and renew old ones electronically
• Send prescriptions for noncontrolled substances directly to the pharmacy via fax or by Electronic Data Interchange and/or print the prescriptions on paper
• Check for drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions
• Check for formulary coverage