Massachusetts down a notch

ARLINGTON, VA  -  Minnesota achieved the highest rate of e-prescribing use in the nation during 2011 to capture the No. 1 ranking in Surescripts' 7th annual Safe-Rx Awards. 

The rankings are determined by an analysis of data that measures electronic prescribing use by physicians, pharmacies and payers in each state, according to Surescipts officials. Adoption and use statistics for all states and an online discussion of the Safe-Rx rankings are available at surescripts.com/saferx.

 "Minnesota has made impressive gains in the adoption and use of all three components of e-prescribing," said Harry Totonis, president and CEO of Surescripts. "This is helping healthcare providers improve workflows and patient care, and sets the stage for expanding the use of electronic data for additional improvements in healthcare quality and delivery. Congratulations to all Safe-Rx Award winners and to the health care providers and policy makers in the states for taking action to improve one of the most important parts of our nation's health care system."

Growth in the adoption and use of e-prescribing  -  which includes prescription routing, utilization of benefit information and utilization of medication history  -  created the greatest number of changes in the rankings over its seven-year history. This e-prescribing growth correlates with trends first identified in Surescripts 2011 National Progress Report released May 17, 2012.  

The data indicates that state and federal initiatives to increase the adoption and use of e-prescribing by healthcare providers as a means to improve quality, efficiency and help lower costs are significant drivers in e-prescribing's growth.

Highlights from the 7th Annual Safe-Rx Awards and state progress reports:

• Prescribers in Minnesota routed 61 percent of prescriptions electronically.

• Massachusetts and New Hampshire have the highest rate of physician adoption at 86 percent.

• Nine states have more than 70 percent of physicians electronically routing prescriptions.

• North Dakota made the largest gains year over year, boosting its ranking from No. 47 to No, 18.

• New Hampshire, Nebraska and Minnesota all made double-digit gains in the ranking based on increased use of e-prescribing which includes: routing, medication history and benefit information.

• Nationally, 91 percent of retail pharmacies are able to receive e-prescriptions.

"In Minnesota, there has been a strong commitment to a common e-prescribing objective by providers, pharmacies and payers statewide who worked collaboratively with the e-Health Initiative," said Marty LaVenture, MD, director of the office of health information technology and e-health at the Minnesota Department of Health. "We have benefited from the strategic use of assessment data that helped us identify and respond to the gaps and needs associated with e-prescribing.  Policy initiatives and grant and loan programs also helped increase adoption and use for providers and pharmacies in underserved areas of the state."

"E-prescribing can enhance patient safety through improved accuracy," said Robert Torres, health information technology coordinator for Pennsylvania, which ranks 11^th in the nation for e-prescribing. "It can also reduce healthcare costs by helping to identify potentially dangerous drug interactions, as well as when less expensive drug alternatives are available.

LaVenture is this year's recipient of the prestigious Safe-Rx Evangelist Award, which is given annually to the person or organization whose work has made an extraordinary impact on the awareness and use of e-prescribing as a critical means of reducing medication errors.

The Safe-Rx Awards celebrate leadership and exceptional commitment to advancing health care safety, efficiency and quality through the use of e-prescribing. They reflect Surescripts' long-standing collaboration with the nation's pharmacies, payers, physicians and technology vendors to support the exchange of health information over a network that is non-commercial, neutral, transparent and standards-based. The awards are based on a ranking that measures states' actual use of e-prescribing.

What about my state?

Rankings aside, e-prescribing use grew substantially across all states in the country in 2011. To view reports detailing the growth of e-prescribing adoption and use in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. View the reports here.

Surescripts prepared the Safe-Rx Awards Reports using e-prescribing data sets that did not include any protected health information (PHI).