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MINNESOTA RANKED #1 IN THE NATION FOR USE OF E-PRESCRIBING,
AS SURESCRIPTS ANNOUNCES SAFE-RX AWARDS

New Hampshire and Vermont Move into the Top 10, While Massachusetts Drops to #2

 

All States Show Progress in the 7th Annual Report on E-Prescribing Use by State

ARLINGTON, Va. - July 31, 2012 - Surescripts today announced that Minnesota achieved the highest rate of e-prescribing use in the nation during 2011 to capture the number 1 ranking in its 7th annual Safe-Rx Awards. The rankings are determined by an analysis of data* that measures electronic prescribing use by physicians, pharmacies and payers in each state. Adoption and use statistics for all states and an online discussion of the Safe-Rx rankings are available at www.surescripts.com/saferx.

"Minnesota has made impressive gains in the adoption and use of all three components of e-prescribing," said Harry Totonis, president and CEO of Surescripts.  "This is helping health care providers improve work flows and patient care, and sets the stage for expanding the use of electronic data for additional improvements in health care quality and delivery. Congratulations to all Safe-Rx Award winners and to the health care providers and policy makers in the states for taking action to improve one of the most important parts of our nation's health care system."

Growth in the adoption and use of e-prescribing - which includes prescription routing, utilization of benefit information and utilization of medication history - created the greatest number of changes in the rankings over its seven-year history. This e-prescribing growth correlates with trends first identified in Surescripts 2011 National Progress Report released May 17, 2012.  The data indicates that state and federal initiatives to increase the adoption and use of e-prescribing by healthcare providers as a means to improve quality, efficiency and help lower costs are significant drivers in e-prescribing's growth.

Highlights from the 7th Annual Safe-Rx Awards and state progress reports:

  • Prescribers in Minnesota routed 61 percent of prescriptions electronically.
  • Massachusetts and New Hampshire have the highest rate of physician adoption at 86 percent.
  • Nine states have over 70 percent of physicians electronically routing prescriptions.
  • North Dakota made the largest gains year over year, boosting its ranking from #47 to #18.
  • New Hampshire, Nebraska and Minnesota all made double-digit gains in the ranking based on increased use of e-prescribing which includes: routing, medication history and benefit information.
  • Nationally, 91 percent of retail pharmacies are able to receive e-prescriptions.

Top 10 States With Highest Rates of E-Prescribing

  1. Minnesota*
  2. Massachusetts
  3. South Dakota
  4. Delaware
  5. New Hampshire*
  6. Iowa
  7. North Carolina
  8. Maine
  9. Vermont*
  10. Michigan

*New to the top 10

"In Minnesota, there has been a strong commitment to a common e-prescribing objective by providers, pharmacies and payers statewide who worked collaboratively with the e-Health Initiative," said Dr. Marty LaVenture, director of the office of health information technology and e-health at the Minnesota Department of Health.  "We have benefited from the strategic use of assessment data that helped us identify and respond to the gaps and needs associated with e-prescribing.  Policy initiatives and grant and loan programs also helped increase adoption and use for providers and pharmacies in underserved areas of the state."

Dr. LaVenture is this year's recipient of the prestigious Safe-Rx Evangelist Award, which is given annually to the person or organization whose work has made an extraordinary impact on the awareness and use of e-prescribing as a critical means of reducing medication errors.

The Safe-Rx Awards celebrate leadership and exceptional commitment to advancing health care safety, efficiency and quality through the use of e-prescribing. They reflect Surescripts' long-standing collaboration with the nation's pharmacies, payers, physicians and technology vendors to support the exchange of health information over a network that is non-commercial, neutral, transparent and standards-based. The Awards are based on a ranking that measures states' actual use of e-prescribing.

What About My State?
Rankings aside, e-prescribing use grew substantially across all states in the U.S. in 2011. To view reports detailing the growth of e-prescribing adoption and use in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., go to www.surescripts.com/saferx.

*Surescripts prepared the Safe-Rx Awards Reports using  e-prescribing data sets that did not include any protected health information (PHI).

 

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About Surescripts
The Surescripts network supports the most comprehensive ecosystem of healthcare organizations nationwide. Pharmacies, payers, pharmacy benefit managers, physicians, hospitals, health information exchanges and health technology firms rely on Surescripts to more easily and securely share health information. Guided by the principles of neutrality, transparency, physician and patient choice, open standards, collaboration and privacy, Surescripts operates the nation's largest health information network. By providing information for routine, recurring and emergency care, Surescripts is committed to saving lives, improving efficiency and reducing the cost of health care for all. For more information, go to www.surescripts.com and follow us at twitter.com/surescripts.

Press Contact:
Rob Cronin
WCG for Surescripts
(917) 414-5289
rcronin@wcgworld.com

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