Electronic Prescribing Saves Patients Money
It Steers Doctors Toward Using Lower-cost Drugs
Jan 8, 2009
Electronic prescribing systems that tell doctors the least expensive drugs can save millions of dollars a year, a new study finds.
One of the challenges physicians face is that they do not know which drugs are preferred or not preferred, said Dr. Michael A. Fischer, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and lead author of a report in the December issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Drugs Were Color Coded By Generic or Brand-named
“The insurance companies involved in the study provided that information by a color code -- green for drugs that were preferred, red for drugs that were not preferred,” said Fischer of the study.
The study of 17.4 million prescriptions filled by more than 1.5 million patients of nearly 1,200 Massachusetts physicians found that use of the least expensive drugs -- those available generically -- increased by more than 3 percent when e-prescribing was used. Use of more expensive preferred brand-name drugs decreased by almost 2 percent, and use of non-preferred brand-name drugs decreased by 1.5 percent.
Study Showed Savings of More Than $800,000 a Year for Every 100,000 Patients
The result was an estimated savings of 70 cents per patient a month -- not much per individual, but it added up to $845,000 a year for every 100,000 people filling prescriptions.
And those savings were possible when just 20 percent of the doctors who had access to e-prescribing used it.
The potential savings increase with more availability and use of e-prescribing. For complete e-prescribing use, the projected savings are $3.9 million per 100,000 patients per year, the report said.
Doctors Reluctant to Use E-prescriptions Because of the System's Cost to a Practice
A number of different electronic prescribing systems are available, but many doctors have been reluctant to use them because of the cost associated with them. Establishing a system can cost an estimated $3,000, with maintenance costs estimated at $80 to $400 a month. A study earlier this year found that only 17 percent of U.S. doctors use electronic medical record systems.
Nothing in the system forces the doctor to make a choice of drugs, said Fischer, an internist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Just color-coding, without forcing them to do anything, led to a movement to lower-cost drugs.
The decision to use an e-prescription service is up to the doctor, Fischer said, but patients can ask their doctors if they are e-prescribing.
Reference:
“Electronic Prescribing Saves Patients Money,” By Ed Edelson, HealthDay News, Dec. 8, 2008.
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