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March 02, 2004
SureScripts and Axolotl Join Forces to Provide Physicians With Electronic Prescribing Connections
Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2004
SureScripts and Axolotl Join Forces to Provide Physicians With Electronic Prescribing Connections
ALEXANDRIA, Va. and TAMPA, Fl. -- March 2, 2004 -- SureScripts and Axolotl announced an agreement today that will give doctors the ability to exchange prescription information with pharmacists electronically, eliminating fax, phone, paper and pen from the prescribing process.
SureScripts is at the forefront of a growing movement to harness technology to improve the safety and quality of prescribing by building a nationwide electronic prescribing network, SureScripts Messenger™ Services.
With this agreement, Axolotl’s approximately 13,000 physician customers will be able to use the SureScripts’ network to exchange prescription information – new prescriptions, renewal requests and authorizations – with pharmacists electronically, eliminating millions of faxes and telephone calls that now clog the system.
“We are pleased that Axolotl has made connecting to pharmacies a high priority,” said Kevin Hutchinson, SureScripts’ president and CEO. “Axolotl, a leader in the automation of physician practices, recognizes that electronic prescribing can significantly reduce errors and increase efficiency."
In use by physicians since 1996, Axolotl’s Elysium Prescription Management system helps physicians prescribe the most appropriate, disease-specific medications including generic alternatives, tracks and maintains a patient's medication history, makes dosage adjustments, performs automatic patient eligibility and benefit checking, and provides immediate electronic delivery to pharmacies.
“Axolotl has always taken a total management view to electronic prescription writing and Surescripts Messenger Services will provide our physicians with the ability to electronically exchange new prescription and refill requests with retail pharmacies, greatly enhancing practice efficiency,” said Ray Scott, Axolotl’s CEO.
According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, electronic prescribing can significantly reduce medication errors, which contribute to an estimated 7,000 deaths annually. Illegible prescriptions and confusion caused by similar sounding names are common.
Health care technology vendors representing half of the nation’s 55,000 retail pharmacies have completed the certification process required to connect to SureScripts and are at various stages of making the capability available to pharmacies. Pharmacies and physicians are already exchanging prescription information electronically via SureScripts network in Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland and California. Massachusetts, Ohio, New York and North Carolina are next.
About SureScripts
SureScripts is committed to building relationships within the healthcare community and working collaboratively with key industry stakeholders and organizations to improve the safety, efficiency and quality of healthcare by improving the overall prescribing process. At the core of this improvement effort is SureScripts Messenger™ Services, a healthcare infrastructure which establishes electronic communications between pharmacists and physicians and enables the two-way electronic exchange of prescription information. Today, companies and software vendors representing 50 percent of the pharmacies in the United States have completed the testing and certification process to connect to SureScripts Messenger Services and are at various stages of pharmacy and market roll-out. SureScripts Messenger Services is the first step to support true electronic prescribing in an industry still reliant on fax, phone, pen and paper. More information about SureScripts is available at www.surescripts.com.
About Axolotl
Axolotl provides advanced Web-based products and services that automate health information management and communication between HIM departments, hospitals, clinics, labs, and physicians. By connecting the healthcare community, our Elysium products and services increase efficiency, cut the cost of information exchange, and improve the quality of care. Thousands of healthcare professionals nationwide are using Elysium for HIPAA-compliant results management, electronic signature, transcription, and medical records management. Axolotl's AccentHealth Waiting Room Television Network, produced in conjunction with CNN, delivers award-winning health programming to approximately 19 million patients each month. For more information, visit www.axolotl.com.
SURESCRIPTS CONTACTS
Tammy Lewis
914-400-4376
tammy.lewis@surescripts.com
AXOLOTL CONTACTS
Nicole Spencer: 530-269-1806
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