Here's an excellent example of automating a vital but somewhat mundane aspect of medicine in order to free up resources for more challenging, hands-on tasks...
E-Prescribe lowers drug costs, errorsHenry Ford, HAP tout its benefits
Katie Merx / Detroit Free Press
- More than 80,000 prescriptions were changed or canceled due to drug-interaction alerts.
- e-Prescribing messages alerted doctors to 6,500 potentially allergic reactions.
- More than 50,000 prescriptions were changed or canceled due to formulary alerts, which increased the use of generic drugs.
- The use rate of generic drugs by Henry Ford Medical Group improved 7.3%, the equivalent of $3.1 million in pharmacy costs over one year.
Source: Henry Ford Health System
Henry Ford Medical Group filled more than 500,000 prescriptions electronically in the last year through a program launched at the request of American automakers to cut prescription costs and reduce medical errors.
Health Alliance Plan and Henry Ford Medical reported Wednesday that the year-old program, e-Prescribe, already has helped avoid potential drug complications and saved money by reducing adverse drug effects and increasing the use of generic prescriptions.
Here's how it works:
Every time a doctor enters a pricey brand-name drug into the e-Prescribe system, the computer stops him or her and suggests a less-expensive generic version. It also checks for potentially harmful drug interactions and allergies.
The doctor doesn't have to choose the generic, but already, e-Prescribe has resulted in doctors switching 10% -- more than 50,000 -- of all the medicines they prescribed from the proprietary option to a generic alternative. And that means bottom-line savings to the patient, the employer and the health plan.
"Every percentage point increase in the generic use rate saves about $800,000 in drug spending," said Matt Walsh, associate vice president of purchaser initiatives at HAP.
The generic use rate by the Henry Ford Medical Group improved by 7.3% since the program began, Walsh said. That's the equivalent of $3.1 million in pharmacy costs over one year.
The numbers released Wednesday don't say how many times doctors were prompted to try a generic and didn't.
But Henry Ford Medical did report additional benefits to the new program that not only save money, but lives, time and aggravation.
In the first 12 months:
- More than 80,000 prescriptions were changed or canceled due to drug-interaction alerts.
- e-Prescribe messages alerted doctors to 6,500 potentially allergic reactions.
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