The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released two toolsets, one for small physician practices and one for independent pharmacies, meant to help support e-prescribing implementation.

Officials say the toolsets are designed to offer a step-by-step guide for preparing and launching an e-prescribing system. Each set includes tailored advice on topics ranging from planning the implementation process, launching the system, troubleshooting common problems and navigating into more advanced practice and pharmacy services.

[See also: eRx worthwhile, but still problematic for docs, pharmacies.]

AHRQ's "A Toolset for E-Prescribing Implementation in Physician Offices" seeks to offer practices the knowledge and resources to implement e-prescribing successfully. The toolset consists of 11 chapters that provide guidance on various topics – from building an implementation team to assessing vendors to planning for EHR transition – that can facilitate the process.

It also includes tools to support planning and decision-making, such as surveys to determine whether an organization is ready for e-prescribing, worksheets for planning  and monitoring progress and templates for communicating the launch to patients.

[See also: AHRQ calls for improvement in quality reporting sites .]

AHRQ's "A Toolset for E-Prescribing Implementation in Independent Pharmacies" is designed to better enable pharmacies to adopt e-prescribing. Its seven chapters offer guidance on topics – such as communicating the launch to providers and patients – related to the implementation process.

It also offers strategies to examine and assess pharmacy workflow, a spreadsheet to determine return-on-investment and more.

Find both toolsets and supporting tools at the AHRQ website.