Health Insurance Insider

Doctors seem to be utterly unamused at how the newly introduced eRx system works for they often disregard up to date warnings and alerts posted on medications they are prescribing. This has been found in Boston where a pilot project was introduced to save on medication costs eliminating the prescription pad that has been so much a part of a doctors office as the stethoscope is. eRx is a system where prescriptions from doctors can be generated electronically without having to write down a manual prescription on a pad. This adds accuracy and traceability to prescriptions for they are automatically sent to the pharmacy for correct dispensing and dosage.
The move is aimed to cut costs such as faxing all prescribed medication summaries and the elimination of the pad itself on which more traditional prescriptions are written. The eRx also enters automatically into the patient’s medical history file, updating it as medication is prescribed. One problem has surfaced in the pilot study, doctors are not paying any attention to any contradiction recommendations or alerts from the system even if it has seen a potentially risky drug combination. The system also automatically adds information in real-time from drugs researchers and the USFDA where any health warnings are released regarding specific medication and the contradictory effects they may have when used in conjunction to other drugs. It seems the human factor is again trying to pull down another good concept at making the health care system safer, for a huge majority of ambulatory services have been noted to be caused by such contradictions or adverse reactions to drugs takes at the same time.