Medications, along with hospital costs, constitute one of the\u00a0major health spending<\/a>\u00a0categories in Canada, with at least\u00a01 in 10<\/a>\u00a0Canadian adults regularly taking prescriptions to treat high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol or mood disorders.<\/p>\n For years, when patients needed a new prescription or a refill on existing medication, they were required to make an appointment to see their doctor in person. However, when COVID-19 hit in 2020, lockdowns and closures forced a rapid shift to digital healthcare, with many in-person doctor appointments replaced by telemedicine or virtual visits \u2014 yet through it all, the need for prescription medications did not disappear.<\/p>\n With the shift to digital health here to stay \u2014 a recent\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0found that almost half of Canadians have now accessed a physician using virtual care, and 91 percent are satisfied with the service they received \u2014 the healthcare industry faces some important questions.<\/p>\n How can patients receive medication without picking up a prescription from their doctor?<\/p>\n How can pharmacists verify the authenticity of a prescription and dispense with confidence?<\/p>\n How can physicians know that the medication has been picked up, and no follow-up call with a patient is required?<\/p>\n A\u00a0Canadian Digital Health Survey<\/a>\u00a0found that 80 percent of Canadians are interested in having their prescription sent directly to a pharmacy from their doctor\u2019s office. Currently, there are two ways this can be done: via fax or via electronic prescribing (e-prescribing).<\/p>\n Fax machines<\/a>\u00a0are archaic, unreliable, error-prone, and often cause unnecessary delays in patient care due to malfunctions, illegible handwriting, or pharmacists requiring clarification on prescriptions.<\/p>\n Alternatively, an e-prescribing solution integrates into the pharmacy management system (PMS) of a pharmacy and electronic medical record (EMR) of a doctor to digitally transmit a prescription from a prescriber to a patient\u2019s pharmacy of choice.<\/p>\n Once a prescription has been transmitted, it populates fields in the pharmacy management system, ensuring the name of the drug and dosage are clear. Pharmacy professionals do not have to manually input the information and worry about deciphering illegible handwriting \u2014 they can be certain that the prescription is authentic and came straight from a physician\u2019s office. If there are any questions or clarifications required, pharmacists can use a clinical communications tool in the platform to message a physician. No more phone tag or unnecessary delays.<\/p>\n E-prescribing also helps physicians see whether or not the prescription has been picked up, providing important insight into their patient\u2019s\u00a0medication adherence<\/a>. Physicians can also approve a prescription renewal request straight from their EMR. With\u00a086 percent<\/a>\u00a0of physicians in Canada already using EMR systems, integrating e-prescribing solutions would be fairly simple and have a profound impact on healthcare delivery.<\/p>\n The service is also incredibly convenient for patients: for\u00a01 in 3<\/a>\u00a0Canadians, a virtual visit ends in a prescription renewal. With e-prescribing, patients no longer have to worry about lost prescriptions or taking time off to see their doctor for renewals. All they have to do is head to their pharmacy of choice and ask for their prescription.<\/p>\n The process is seamless, convenient, and safe. E-prescribing is emerging as a prevalent way to receive, create, or dispense prescriptions, steadily replacing other forms of provider-to-provider communication.<\/p>\n + + +<\/p>\n Want to learn more about how e-prescribing can help your practice?\u00a0MDBriefCase<\/a>\u00a0is free to join and offers a complimentary\u00a0CME course<\/a>\u00a0on medication management with e-prescribing.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why paper prescriptions no longer fit our digital health reality Medications, along with hospital costs, constitute one of the\u00a0major health spending\u00a0categories in Canada, with at least\u00a01 in 10\u00a0Canadian adults regularly taking prescriptions to treat high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol or mood disorders. For years, when patients needed a new prescription or a refill on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[67],"class_list":["post-2358","blog","type-blog","status-publish","hentry","category-further-education"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\ne-Prescribing: The Future of Prescriptions<\/strong><\/h2>\n