Leading Electronic Prescribing Companies Merge

Leading Electronic Prescribing Companies Merge in General Healthcare

Today, only a very small number of doctors use electronic health records and prescribe drugs electronically.

But just about everyone in the health care industry sees the potential of going electronic.

The most recent move toward an electronic health care system is in the pharmaceutical industry, where two of the biggest electronic prescribing companies merged.

SureScripts and RxHub were originally separate companies that had different roles in electronic prescribing — SureScripts sends prescriptions electronically to pharmacies, RxHub sends and retrieves insurance information about the coverage of a drug.

RxHub also electronically sends patients’ prescriptions to mail-order pharmacies to be filled.

The services of both SureScripts and RxHub are supported by prescribing software in a doctors’ office, which must be certified by both companies, reported the Washington Post.

Doctors don’t have to pay for the electronic services. But they do have to buy e-prescribing software themselves.

Now with the two companies together, they can help streamline the whole process.

Many advocates of e-prescriptions argue it can cut costs, reduce medical and clerical errors, and improve the overall quality of health care.

“As we move to this paperless process, we improve efficiency, safety, and quality,“ said Rick Ratliff, the chief executive at SureScripts.

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