Meaningful Use plays role in physician jump in e-prescribing

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Federal incentives to support health IT have aided in the growth of the nation's use of electronic prescription by 72 percent in 2010, according to a new report from Surescripts.

Surescripts announced the release of "The National Progress Report on E-Prescribing and Interoperable Healthcare" for 2010 on Thursday. The report is the fourth in an annual series that tracks the status of e-prescribing adoption and use in the United States. This year's report measures the growth of e-prescribing from 2008 – before the advent of federal incentives – through 2010 and includes new data that provides further detail on physician adoption of e-prescribing and electronic health records. The number of prescribers routing prescriptions electronically grew from 74,000 at the end of 2008 to 234,000 by the end of 2010 – representing 34 percent of all office-based prescribers and 36 percent of office-based physicians. E-prescribing adoption rates are highest among cardiologists (49 percent) and family practitioners (47 percent). In terms of practice size, adoption rates are highest among practices with five to 10 physicians (44 percent) and two to five physicians (42 percent).


Meaningful Use plays role in physician jump in e-prescribing Read the report (Surescripts)