The Timely Importance of a Trusted, Capable and Secure Health Information Network

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on thousands of frontline healthcare professionals who are caring for patients with great courage and selfless commitment. As a nationwide health information network, we play a critical role assisting those providers in delivering safe and efficient patient care—and we take this role very seriously.

Unprecedented times call for new levels of adaptability—and the Surescripts Network Alliance has proven its ability to adapt, expand and improve, time and again. Last year was no different.

According to our 2019 National Progress Report Surescripts processed more than 19 billion secure health data transactions nationwide. But it’s what this big number means to patients and providers that matters most. Together with our partners across the Surescripts Network Alliance, we collectively made critical and timely advancements in three areas in 2019:

1. We delivered actionable intelligence that helped further automate the prescribing process and delivered price transparency where it mattered most. With increased use of standard e-prescribing transactions as well as enhanced capabilities, we’re demonstrating healthcare’s ability to move ever closer to a safe, secure and fully digitized prescribing process—as well as more accurate and affordable prescriptions.


2. We connected care providers with the actionable intelligence they needed, including patient medication and clinical history data and secure messaging, so they could make better-informed care decisions. With increased network connections and utilization among care providers, they easily located patient records from across the country and communicated with other care providers, millions of times over. This means healthcare providers were able to see a more complete picture of their patients and deliver safer and more efficient care.


3. While healthcare interoperability underwent another year of significant expansion and broader information sharing, the Surescripts network maintained the highest levels of reliability, security and accuracy, delivering on our purpose as the nation’s most trusted and capable health information network.

The nature of our industry and the people who choose healthcare as their life’s work will continue to demonstrate great resilience and adaptability—even in moments like these when the problems appear insurmountable.

Whether in response to new regulations and standards, rising costs and greater consumer scrutiny of healthcare spending, or the increasing and evolving needs associated with a global pandemic, our network and the healthcare organizations we connect will remain strong, and the technologies we deliver will continue to be there for all who rely on them.

For more data, download the Surescripts 2019 National Progress Report and learn more about solutions that enhance e-prescribing and inform care decisions.