PrescribeIT®: A case study on the primary care perspective with e-prescribing
In Canada, one in six patients hospitalized is admitted due to a preventable adverse drug event (ADE) 1, while 31% of new prescriptions are not filled2. Traditional prescribing practices use handwritten paper, printed or faxed prescriptions that must be manually transcribed into pharmacy management systems (PMS), increasing the potential of an ADE, or unfilled prescriptions3. PrescribeIT®, an electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) solution, eliminates these risks by generating a legible, secure prescription within a primary care electronic medical record (EMR) that is sent directly to the pharmacy4.
The eHealth Centre of Excellence has partnered with Canada Health Infoway to deploy PrescribeIT®, to support enhanced communication between primary care providers (PCPs) and pharmacists, increase workflow efficiencies and improve medication adherence amongst patients.
Key takeaways
PrescribeIT® enables electronic prescriptions to be sent to a patient’s pharmacy of choice, providing a reliable option compared to e-fax, fax and handwritten prescriptions. It allows for timely and efficient information exchange between a primary care provider and pharmacist, and insights on patient medication dispensed through automatic updates within the patient chart in the EMR.
Dr. Patricia Froese, a family physician in Kitchener, Ontario, adopted PrescribeIT® in the Fall of 2019 to facilitate a digitally secure and timely transmission of prescriptions to the patient’s pharmacy of choice.
PrescribeIT® is an efficient and improved prescribing option for primary care, operating even when the fax/e-fax is not working, and allowing me to directly respond to a pharmacist’s request, rather than wait for the information to be inputted into the chart by staff. PrescribeIT® also provides information that was previously not readily available, such as the medication status (e.g. dispensed). The insight provides me with an opportunity to discuss with patients their reasons for not filling a medication and to consider other patient-centred solutions.
Dr. Patricia Froese
Family Physician, The Boardwalk Medical Centre
Since the adoption of PrescribeIT®, Dr. Froese experienced the following benefits:
Secure and reliable prescribing option
- Efficient prescription orders and renewal requests when fax/e-fax fails, reducing delays in sending the prescription to the pharmacy
Increased practice efficiency
- Reliable two-way communication, enabling direct and efficient transmission of information between the EMR and PMS
- Reduces staff time spent sorting, calling, scanning and faxing prescriptions
- Streamlines care coordination between the PCP and pharmacist
Ability to monitor patient medication compliance
- Allows PCPs to monitor the status of prescriptions (e.g. dispensed medications), providing insights into patient adherence and allowing monitoring of controlled substance
The absence of a digital electronic prescribing solution when fax is unavailable may lead to delayed medication for the patient, potentially impacting health outcomes and increasing the administrative burden on the primary care office to ensure that the patient has access to the right medications at the right time. PrescribeIT® offers primary care offices and community pharmacies a reliable solution to support improved workflow efficiencies, streamlining the communication between PCPs and pharmacists.
When prescriptions being sent to pharmacies were not dispensed, and that information was communicated to the prescribing clinician, it presented Dr. Froese with an opportunity that did not exist previously. Dr. Froese was able to follow up with patients in the next appointment to better understand the patient’s concerns and circumstances surrounding medications not being filled.
- Samoy, L. J., Zed, P. J., Wilbur, K., Balen, R. M., Abu-Laban R. B., and Roberts, M. (2006). Drug-related hospitalizations in a tertiary care internal medicine service of a Canadian hospital: A prospective study. Pharmacotherapy, 26(11), 1578-86.
- Tamblyn, R., Eduale, T., Huang, A., Winslade, N, and Doran, P. (2014). The incidence and determinants of primary nonadherence with prescribed medication in primary care. Annals of Internal Medicine, 160(7), 441-450.
- Gagnon, M. P., Payne-Gagnon, J., Sicotte, C., Langué-Dubé, J. A. and Motulsky, A. (2015). Connecting primary care clinics and community pharmacies through a nationwide electronic prescribing network: a qualitative study. Journal of Innovation in Health Informatics, 22(3), 359-367.
- Canada Health Infoway. (2019) PrescribeIT Backgrounder. https://prescribeit.ca/component/edocman/140-prescribeit-backgrounder/view-document?Itemid=106.
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