5 Benefits of Using ePrescribing to Boost Efficiency

As a practice manager or owner, one of your core responsibilities is to find ways to improve efficiency while maintaining and improving the quality of care. For decades, technology has improved patient care and experiences in the lab and clinic, but the business office has lagged behind. 

For many patients and staff, delays in business and administrative tasks can be frustrating. For practice managers and owners, those delays can be costly. The very real friction created by manual processes, especially prescription processing, can be alleviated thanks to advances in technology, like ePrescribing, that bring improvements to your practice and front office operations. 

Quick Links

• What Is an ePrescription?
• How Do ePrescriptions Work?
• Top 5 Benefits of ePrescribing

What is an ePrescription?

We're all familiar with handwritten paper prescriptions. But behind every one of those is another manual, multi-step process. And that is just to get the prescription accurately filled in a timely manner. For example, patients need to hand deliver the paper prescription to the pharmacy or the doctor's office needs to look up the pharmacy number and fax it or phone it in. More often than not, errors, lost prescriptions, or needed clarifications require time on the phone between the doctor's office and the pharmacy, delaying care.

On the other hand, an ePrescription, by definition, is the entire process. An ePrescription consists of the digital prescription, its transmission, receipt by a pharmacy, and their filling of the prescription.

In short, it includes the entire prescription process. Because all information is handled digitally, it’s often faster and more accurate, but more on that later!

How Do ePrescriptions and ePrescription Software Work?

First and foremost, to write ePrescriptions medical and dental providers will need ePrescription software. After entering all relevant patient and prescription information, the prescription is sent to the patient’s pharmacy.

But, that’s not all. While it can be that straightforward, ePrescription software can do more than that, including:

• Integrating with existing practice software
• Identifying and alerting to interactions and contraindications
• Autofilling patient information to streamline and prevent duplicate entries
• Saving prescriptions and pharmacies to speed up entries
• Connecting to a vast network of pharmacies
• Providing up-to-date drug directory with instant access
• Providing access to patient prescription history regardless of prescriber
• Delivering cloud flexibility, allowing you to securely prescribe from anywhere 

ePrescription software provides the seamless connection between your medical or dental office and pharmacies to facilitate quick and easy filling of prescriptions necessary to deliver the care your patients need and deserve.

Top 5 Benefits of ePrescribing

Technology and, specifically, automation, has been heralded by many industries as a boon to productivity. Automation is designed to simplify and speed up repetitive tasks.

Because so many medical and dental services are individualized, and the field relies upon human interaction, finding ways to leverage technology to improve services can be difficult, but incredibly beneficial. 

ePrescribing has, for that reason, been one way that medical and dental practices are able to leverage technology to boost practice productivity and improve patient care. The benefits go beyond productivity boosts though.

1. Easier & faster — especially for your patients

Manual prescriptions must be taken to a pharmacy for filling, requiring a patient to make time to get to the pharmacy and wait for the prescription to be filled. This can be time consuming, depending on lots of factors associated with patient travel and pharmacy administration. In worst case scenarios, it can also delay care.

With an ePrescription, the pharmacy has all the information it needs to prepare the prescription before your patient even leaves your office.

2. Reduces errors & call backs

One of the other efficiency improvements provided by ePrescriptions are call backs from the pharmacy or, worse yet, medication errors, due to illegible handwriting or unclear prescriptions. While callbacks can add time to prescription fulfillment, errors are a bit more serious.

In fact, experts estimate that, even today, nearly a quarter of medication errors are attributable to poor handwriting. ePrescriptions, delivered electronically, ensure that prescriptions are filled properly and accurately.

3. Fewer interactions & contraindications

For dentists in particular, when medicines prescribed by a primary care physician may be unknown or a patient might forget, or there’s an allergy to a medication you’re prescribing, both your records and pharmacy records can flag the prescription. Electronic prescription software can alert you to a problem before the prescription is sent to the pharmacy.

Further, for patients in need of painkillers, dental surgery or anesthesia, understanding drug interactions and potential problems prior to the administration is vital. 

4. Improved office efficiency and productivity

Smart tablets changed the ability for techs and other office staff to work as they moved, updating files from anywhere in the office rather than being tied to a desktop. ePrescriptions do the same for doctors and dentists.

Instead of having to return to an office and remain tied to a desktop to complete work, ePrescriptions are just faster and can be handled on the fly, improving the workflow in your office.

Additionally, the ability to autofill patient data and save preferences for patients and pharmacies means you and your team can work faster with the tech working for you.

5. Safer prescribing of controlled substances

The abuse of prescription drugs is a significant problem in the United States and, as a prescriber, the responsibility for safe prescriptions falls upon you. Any tool at your disposal to assist you in recognizing someone who may be prescription shopping is a tool you want on hand.

Some ePrescription software can display all prescriptions previously dispensed to a patient, regardless of provider. This can help you recognize duplicate prescriptions and let you know when you should be concerned about prescribing a controlled substance.

In short, ePrescriptions are safer, faster, and more convenient for both your office and your patients. Improved workflows mean your office is more efficient, further boosting patient care and satisfaction. Further, ePrescriptions improve accuracy and provide safety nets for drug concerns from interactions to potential abuse.

See ePrescription software In Action

If you’re looking for an ePrescription software solution that provides these benefits, integrates with your existing practice software, like Dentrix, and helps you leverage the flexibility of the cloud, book a demo of iCoreConnect’s iCoreRx and see why over 80 state dental and medical associations endorse our product.

If you’d like to discuss iCoreRx or any of our suite of dental practice solutions that provide security and HIPAA compliance while improving efficiency and reducing costs, then get in touch with our team today.