ALEXANDRIA, VA – SureScripts announced today it has formed the Prescriber Vendor Advisory Council, a group of 10 executives from electronic prescribing and electronic health record software companies from across the country. The council will advise SureScripts on programs designed to increase the adoption and use of electronic prescribing by physicians in the United States.

Founded by the pharmacy industry in 2001, SureScripts operates the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, which connects physicians with pharmacies making it possible for them to electronically exchange prescription information.

The announcement of the formation of an advisory council follows two other recent announcements by SureScripts on the e-prescribing front. One was that, with Alaska on board, the entire country is now ready to handle e-prescribing. The other was SureScripts’ launch of The Center for Improving Medication Management.

The technology companies SureScripts has brought together to form the advisory council will work toward increasing physician use of electronic prescribing around the country, SureScripts executives said.

Members of the council are experts in the design and application of information technology used by physicians and practice staff. They are:

∑ Allscripts – David Pearah, vice president of product management and operations;

∑ DrFirst – Cameron Deemer, president;

∑ eClinicalWorks –Raj Dharampuriya, MD, chief medical officer;

∑ eMDs – Chuck Frederick, RPh, vice president of medical informatics;

∑ MedPlus – Edward Bayliss, vice president, Care360 professional services;

∑ RelayHealth – Ken Tarkoff, vice president and general manager;

∑ NextGen – Steven Saitsky, vice president, partnership executive;

∑ RxNT – Mark Wiggins, chief operating officer;

∑ Wellogic – Sumit Nagpal, president and CEO;

∑ Zix – Curtiss Hurst, partner services manager.

“Even the most compelling of new technologies will invariably face obstacles that slow adoption – and this has never been more true than in healthcare,” Rick Ratliff, chief operating officer of SureScripts, said in a statement today. “SureScripts will work with its Prescriber Vendor Advisory Council to identify and address these obstacles so that more prescribers, pharmacists and – most importantly – their patients will benefit from a safer, more efficient electronic prescribing process.”

As part of its mission, the council will provide insight on key variables that are known to impact a physician’s decision to begin e-prescribing and their level of satisfaction once they start.