Laura Topor: Clearing Up Misconceptions About e-Prescribing

Many people may think e-prescribing refers to the electronic sending of a prescription, but the term actually encompasses a much broader range of communications and transactions, said Laura Topor, president of Granada Health.

Transcript (slightly modified)

What misconception about e-prescribing would you like to clear up?

E-prescribing is not just that prescription, but it’s a lot of related transactions, and a lot of messages and ways to communicate prescription information, which could include clinical information about the patient, benefit information, support for REMS-related [risk evaluation and mitigation strategies] transactions, so there’s a lot of activity, there’s a lot of discussion. There are messages we have that aren’t being used, like for the pharmacist to initiate a change request back to the prescriber, or for the prescriber to notify the pharmacy that they’ve discontinued that medication for the patient and the prescription should be cancelled.

So, don’t just think it’s just sending the prescription! It’s broader than that, and I would encourage people to look at ways to get involved, whether it’s through associations, standards bodies, state activity, to see what they can do to drive adoption and identify new ways that we can build messages to support that electronic exchange.