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February 22, 2006
One Year Later, Health Alliance Plan, Henry Ford Health System e-Prescribing Technology Hits 500,000 'Scripts
DETROIT, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- A year after an innovative electronictechnology, e-Prescribing, was launched, more than 500,000 prescriptions have
been filled by Henry Ford Medical Group. Their physicians now write more than
20,000 electronic prescriptions weekly.
The technology benefits patients who avoid potential complications due to
drug interactions and saves money by using generics instead of brand name
medications. As a result:
* More than 80,000 prescriptions were changed or cancelled due to drug-
to-drug interaction alerts. e-Prescribing messages alerted doctors to
6,500 potential allergic reactions.
* More than 50,000 prescriptions were changed or cancelled due to
formulary alerts, which increased the use of generic drugs.
* e-Prescribing has helped Henry Ford Medical Group improve its overall
generic use rate by 7.3 percent, which will save $3.1 million in pharmacy
costs over a one-year period.
"In virtually every way health care quality and costs can be measured, the
benefits of e-prescribing are compelling," said Francine Parker, HAP president
and CEO. "e-Prescribing creates a seamless electronic path from the doctor, to
the pharmacist, to the patient. We at HAP are proud to be involved as a
catalyst and pacesetter in a collaborative program that already is proving its
worth to members and patients, providers and employers."
In February 2005 Health Alliance Plan (HAP) and the Henry Ford Medical
Group piloted a major electronic prescribing initiative at the request of the
Big Three automakers - General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and
DaimlerChrysler, to cut prescription costs and improve quality. The 60-
physician pilot was so successful, e-Prescribing quickly became a Henry Ford
Health System-wide initiative, now engaging 300 primary care physicians in 24
Henry Ford medical centers. All medical specialists at Henry Ford will be
using e-Prescribing by the end of the year.
Physicians find e-Prescribing easy to use. Doctors use a personal computer
or wireless device such as a Pocket PC to order or refill prescriptions and
then transmit them over the Internet to retail and mail-order pharmacies. HAP
and Henry Ford provide training and ongoing support to office personnel, and
HAP provides the funding support and project management for the program.
The adoption of e-Prescribing among physicians in the HFHS/HAP system is
part of the Southeast Michigan e-Prescribing Initiative (SEMI), a
collaboration between the Big Three Automakers, Michigan health plans, and
Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Medco, the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) for the
partners in the collaboration, uses its experience with e-Prescribing
technology to coordinate the implementation of the SEMI initiative and
increase the adoption of e-Prescribing.
The automakers will use the success of the HAP-Henry Ford project to jump-
start e-Prescribing throughout the state.
"General Motors commends Henry Ford Medical Group and HAP for achieving
this significant milestone. The organization and its physicians have
demonstrated thoughtful leadership in the area of electronic prescribing,"
said Marsha Manning, manager of Community Health Initiatives at GM. "We must
all work together - businesses, the health care industry and consumers - to
find solutions to controlling health care costs. This is a real life example
of a collaboration that's contributing to higher quality and a more cost
effective delivery system right here in southeast Michigan."
The e-Prescribing project is already proving its worth to physicians and
clinicians using it.
"We at Henry Ford want to provide the most cost-effective and safest care
for our patients," says Mark Kelley, M.D., executive vice president at Henry
Ford and chief executive officer of the Henry Ford Medical Group. "With this
electronic system, we can instantly review the patients' medication history
and allergies. When we prescribe medications, the system can warn us of any
adverse reactions and also recommend less expensive alternatives. This 'smart
system' saves time for the doctor and patient, prevents complications, and
saves money for the patient."
Numerous studies have found that e-Prescribing can save money and reduce
medical errors:
* According to the Managed Care Institute, every 1 percent increase in
the nation's generic prescription utilization rate would generate savings
of $1.3 billion; generic drugs can cost as much as 70 percent less than
brand name medications. Generic drugs are just as effective as their
brand counterparts.
* Congress included a provision in the Medicare Prescription Drug
Improvement and Modernization Act requiring the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services to adopt national standards for electronic
prescriptions in the Medicare program by April 2008.
* The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that use
of e-Prescribing technology could eliminate as many as 2 million harmful
drug events each year.
* A 2003 Medco study of physicians using e-Prescribing technology found
that physicians using the devices increased their generic substitution
rates by over 15 percent and their generic dispensing rates by more than
8 percent.
* Medco and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have
launched a two-year government-funded study of the impact of electronic
prescribing on reducing medication errors and associated costs.
About Health Alliance Plan
Headquartered in Detroit, Mich., Health Alliance Plan (http://www.hap.org)
is the nonprofit managed care arm of the Henry Ford Health System. HAP serves
more than 577,000 members. The National Committee for Quality Assurance
awarded HAP's commercial HMO its highest status, Excellent Accreditation, and
Full Accreditation for Alliance Health and Life Insurance Company PPO
products.
About Henry Ford Health System
Henry Ford Health System (http://www.henryford.com), one of the country's
leading health care systems, integrates primary and specialty care with
research and education. It includes Henry Ford Hospital and four other
hospitals; the 900-member Henry Ford Medical Group, 24 ambulatory centers and
other health-related services located throughout southeastern Michigan.
About Medco
Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) is a leader in managing
prescription drug benefit programs that are designed to drive down the cost of
pharmacy healthcare for private and public employers, health plans, labor
unions and government agencies of all sizes. Medco, the highest-ranked
prescription drug benefit manager on Fortune magazine's list of "America's
Most Admired Companies," is a Fortune 50 company with 2004 revenues of $35
billion. On the Net: http://www.medco.com.
SOURCE Henry Ford Health System
Web Site: http://www.hap.org http://www.henryford.com
http://henryfordhealth.org http://www.medco.com
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