Here is an overview of the big questions about e-prescribing that pharmacists were asking Speed Script’s Heath Reynolds during the 109th NCPA meeting in October. Reynolds, director of business development, talks here of the nuts and bolts of taking e-prescribing from theory to practice.

1. What needs to happen for a retail pharmacy to see robust e-prescribing volume?

The changes that e-prescribing represents can enhance the way healthcare professionals communicate, which will benefit everyone involved. I believe pharmacists will have to market the fact that they can accept e-prescriptions. When pharmacists let physicians and patients know their pharmacy can, and will, accept their electronic prescriptions, the pharmacy should increase their e-prescribing volume. For this to work, physicians need to buy into the fact that they can change from the written process to electronic processes. Pharmacists are in the position to make this change happen.

2. What is the technology that makes for the electronic exchange between a doctor’s office and a pharmacy happen?

E-prescribing connects physicians with pharmacies through a secure transmission of electronic prescription orders and refill authorization requests. The pharmacy management system acts as a communications center for all electronic requests. It connects to an e-prescribing service facilitator that posts electronic prescription messages for the pharmacy management system to retrieve. It can also initiate communication to send refill authorization requests to the physician through the e-prescribing network.

3. What’s the biggest perceived unknown with e-prescribing?

Since e-prescribing has recently become a hot topic in the independent pharmacy market, many of our Speed Script customers have asked whether or not they need to enroll in a program to receive electronic prescriptions. Others are unsure what e-prescribing will cost their business. As mentioned before, I believe that if the pharmacy markets itself to the physicians in its area, e-prescribing can help produce higher prescription volume. Any method of electronic communication that makes the patient’s acquisition of medications from the pharmacy easier should be beneficial to all parties involved. Safety is also a key factor, which some may not realize. Instead of handwritten notes and blurry faxed information, e-prescribing presents a more manageable, clear form of communication. Still, communication isn’t perfect all the time, and pharmacist do need to keep an eye out for errors from the doctor’s office, such as a prescription being sent to the wrong pharmacy.

4. How should a pharmacist work with his or her pharmacy management vendor to interface with e-prescribing?

Oral or written communication is always important when implementing new features, such as e-prescribing, into the pharmacy. At Speed Script we’ve taken proactive measures to get our customers connected. We’ve activated all of our customer stores into the e-prescribing network. They can then choose whether or not they want to accept electronic messages into their system. Giving our customers a choice in many aspects of technology is something we feel strongly about.

5. What does a model e-prescribing system look like?

The model e-prescribing application in a pharmacy management system should allow for secure, HIPAA-compliant, and automated retrieval of electronic information. Some type of visual notification should also be present to let the pharmacy know that messages are available. This process is much like an email account, which takes the manual retrieval factor out of play. Once the pharmacist is notified of an electronic prescription, he or she just has to view the information and fill the prescription accordingly. The model system should also store the electronic prescription message and attach it to the prescription number associated with the patient.