Tennessee receives top honors in e-Prescribing

Posted: Thursday, June 25, 2009 8:01 pm

Tennessee has received a national award for being among the five most-improved states in the electronic prescribing of medication. Governor Phil Bredesen accepted the award at the fourth annual Safe-RX Awards presentation in Washington DC on June 22.
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and Surescripts, operator of the country’s largest e-prescribing network, created the Safe-Rx Awards to recognize how e-prescribing enhances patient safety by providing a secure, accurate and informed prescribing process. The awards are based on an analysis of data from new prescriptions and refill requests transmitted electronically.
QSource, along with three other organizations, is being recognized at the awards presentation for its key contributions to the state’s e-prescribing success. QSource promoted e-prescribing through one-on-one proactive assistance and numerous group education sessions across the state. “QSource is thrilled to see that the state has gained significant momentum in health information technology adoption,” said Jennifer McAnally, Health Information Technology Program Manager for QSource. “We are so pleased to be a part of the success of the State’s ePrescribing program and to have the opportunity work with the dedicated professionals in physician practices to help make this happen.”
And the effort is paying off, with Tennessee making gains in the number of active electronic prescribers –1,605 at the end of 2008, a 144 percent increase over 2007, with 1,120 pharmacies accepting prescriptions electronically. Furthermore, Tennessee finished 2008 with more than 1.7 million e-prescribing transactions, or four percent of all prescriptions issued in the state.
The data for Tennessee showed:
• Tennessee moved from 29th in 2007 to 18th in 2008 in the state-by state rankings
• Tennessee has over 2,200 health care providers issuing electronic prescriptions, and more are adopting the technology every day.
• Out of the five most-improved states, Tennessee was #2 on the list, along with Vermont, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas.
Healthcare professionals seeking more information about e-prescribing can contact McAnally at 800.528.2655, extension 2635, or visit the QSource website at www.qsource.org.
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QSource is a healthcare consulting organization located in Memphis that holds the state’s Medicare quality improvement organization contract. Under a contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the organization provides healthcare quality improvement collaborative opportunities for the providers, practitioners, and managed care plans that care for approximately 1 million Medicare beneficiaries in Tennessee.

Posted 6.25.09

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