Running head: ADVANTAGE OF ELECTRONIC PRESCRIBING 1

Advantages of Electronic Prescribing

Rose Hercules

Rasmussen University

Foundations of Pharmacy Practice

06/05/2021
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Advantages of Electronic Prescribing

Electronic prescription, or "e-prescribing," is not a new concept in pharmacy; but, it has

advanced quickly in the recent decade to keep up with the country's growing healthcare needs.

There are various advantages of e-prescription. Some of the advantages are as documented

below.

Advantages to patients

One out of every five prescriptions is never filled, and half of all drugs are not taken as

directed. Taking a lesser amount than given, not finishing the complete term of medicine, and not

comprehending prescription instructions are all examples of non-adherence. E-prescription will

help the patient understand the prescription easily and adhere to the prescribed medicine (Zarour,

Fetni & Belagrouz, 2021). That is true since the electronically filled prescription enables medical

personnel to follow up on patient medication.

Advantages to prescribers

Prescriptions that are correctly written save pharmacy personnel time since they don't

have to call prescribers to confirm instructions. Several drugs come in various forms, strengths,

and dosages—drop-down options in e-prescribing software push prescribers to fill out all

necessary information for a prescription. Many E-Prescribing software systems rely on generic

medication dictionaries and require particular fields to be filled out before an order can be sent

(Zarour, Fetni & Belagrouz, 2021). By having comprehensive information in every prescription,

E-Prescribing saves both parties time.

Advantages to pharmacy staff

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Over the previous ten years, the benefits of e-prescription have been demonstrated to save

practitioners between $140 and $240 billion in terms of improved results, enhanced efficiency,

and fewer patient visits (Resca, Grisot & Velicogna, 2019). As e-prescription systems improve

and pharmacies become more acclimated to managing them. Thus, the amount of money saved

may even increase in the future.

Limitations

In the United States, controlled substances are illegal or prescribed medications governed

under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Electronic prescription is limited to the prescription

of the required dosage. The controlled substance that violates the law is limited for prescription

using electronic means (Böckerman et al., 2017). Thus, electronic sources have helped reduce

controlled substance prescription, which has increased health outcomes.

Recordkeeping

Various noticeable disparities are seen in recordkeeping when e-prescription and

handwritten prescriptions are compared. Research shows that handwritten prescriptions are less

comprehensive, signed, and dated than computer-assisted prescriptions. Additionally, the

computerized record is prone to less error compared to handwritten records (Zarour, Fetni &

Belagrouz, 2021). The repetition of data in the handwritten record is higher compared to

computerized record keeping. With that at hand, computerized record keeping is indeed more

effective and essential to any medical organization.

Laws

There are various laws associated with electronic prescription. Some of the law

pertaining the prescription of medicine electronically includes the following

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 Providers who sign an EPCS prescription must use two-factor authentication.

 Proof of identification is required to confirm that a provider is authorized to prescribe

restricted drugs.

 EPCS rights are granted to approved prescribers via a two-step logical access control

process.

 Detailed reporting that demonstrates compliance and identifies auditable events and

incidents involving security breaches.

Unlike handwritten, where the prescription was easily accessible, electronic prescription laws

guarantee maximum security to patient prescription.

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References

Böckerman, P., Kortelainen, M., Laine, L., Nurminen, M., & Saxell, T. (2017). Reality check:

The effect of health IT adoption on prescription drug abuse. Terveystaloustiede 2017.

Retrieved from https://www.julkari.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/131896/URN_ISBN_978-

952-302-809-8.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=30

Resca, A., Grisot, M., & Velicogna, M. (2019). Building smarter healthcare for smart cities:

investigating the infrastructural dimension of smart services provision through an e-

prescription case study. In Setting foundations for the creation of public value in smart

cities (pp. 117-135). Springer, Cham.

Zarour, K., Fetni, M. O., & Belagrouz, S. (2021). Towards Electronic Prescription System in a

Developing Country. Applied Medical Informatics., 43(1), 56-67. Retrieved from

https://ami.info.umfcluj.ro/index.php/AMI/article/view/807/753