EPN - Electronic Prescribing News

SureScripts Awarded Grant for Medicare Electronic Prescribing Pilots

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/18/2006 -- SureScripts today announced that the US Department of Health and Human Services has awarded it a $2 million grant to conduct tests of electronic prescribing as part of the agency's Medicare prescription drug benefit program. As the nation's largest provider of e-prescribing services, SureScripts will use six pilots in Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Tennessee to research the function and interoperability of ten technology standards over the course of 2006.

SureScripts will also play a supporting role in two other grants announced today: one led by RAND Corporation, the other by Brigham and Women's Hospital in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and MA-SHARE, a regional collaborative initiative operated by the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium.

Medicare Part D encourages physicians to transmit new prescription and refill requests electronically to a Medicare patient's choice of pharmacy. Under the auspices of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the HHS pilot program will test the standards that enable these existing services as well as standards for new e-prescribing communications developed by SureScripts and its industry partners. Examples here include the ability to electronically manage prescription change and cancel transactions and to transmit patient instructions (known as "SIG" information), drug product information ( "RxNorm"), diagnosis and allergy data, alerts related to patient compliance and, perhaps most importantly, patient medication histories.

"Medicare Part D is the best thing that's ever happened to electronic prescribing, but that's not the most exciting aspect of today's news," said Kevin Hutchinson, President and CEO of SureScripts. "What's really exciting is how these pilots further demonstrate the federal government's commitment to use its clout as the nation's largest insurer to bring about change in healthcare. Armed with the Medicare Modernization Act, Secretary Leavitt and his team at HHS are accelerating market adoption of not just new technology, but the right technology. In the case of electronic prescribing, their work will have an immediate impact on the cost and safety of healthcare today. And as 2006 unfolds and doctors and pharmacists are able to securely share more and more clinical information, e-prescribing will increasingly impact the quality of care as well."

The selection of the SureScripts proposal -- and its supporting role in two other winning applications -- reflects the value placed on its breadth of industry expertise, neutrality and leadership in the standards development process. Moreover, the AHRQ pilots will benefit from SureScripts unique experience at bringing together all key stakeholders in the prescribing process.

SureScripts plans to collaborate with Brown University, assisted by Midwestern University, and a project team that includes pharmacists, physicians, technology and business process experts who are experienced with electronic prescribing standards, workflow evaluation, survey design and research methodologies. Initial participating pharmacy organizations include Ahold (Giant and Stop & Shop), Albertsons (Sav-On and Osco), Brooks, CVS, Duane Reed, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Wal-Mart. On the physician side, the study will feature key technology vendors: Allscripts, DrFirst, Gold Standard, InstantDx, MedPlus/Quest Diagnostics and ZixCorp. Additional support will be provided by Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Kerr Drugs, Longs Drugs, NaviMedix, Partners in Care (an NJ-based physician organization) and Walgreens Health Initiative.

The pilot projects will be evaluated by the Secretary of HHS, and a report of the evaluation will be sent to Congress by April 1, 2007 as required under the Medicare Modernization Act. Based on the results of the pilot project, the Secretary will adopt final uniform standards in 2008 in accordance with the timing prescribed by the statute.

About SureScripts

SureScripts, the largest network provider of electronic prescribing services, is committed to building relationships within the health care community and working collaboratively with key industry stakeholders and organizations to improve the safety, efficiency and quality of health care by improving the overall prescribing process. At the core of this improvement effort is the SureScripts network, a health care infrastructure which establishes electronic communications between pharmacists and physicians and enables the two-way electronic exchange of prescription information. More information about SureScripts is available at www.surescripts.com.

SureScripts Contact:
Rob Cronin
917-414-5289
rob.cronin@surescripts.com