‘The benefits of e-prescribing are numerous’
By Liz Beaulieu, Editor
Updated 12:16 PM CDT, Fri September 17, 2021
YARMOUTH, Maine – There are signs the tide may be turning on e-prescribing, according to an HME Newspoll.
About 32% of respondents to the poll say they’re using e-prescribing compared to only 17% in a past poll in early 2020. Additionally, 55% of respondents to the new poll say they plan to adopt e-prescribing within the next year.
“e-prescribing ensures complete, accurate documentation on the first pass, promoting efficiency for the DME and the referral,” wrote one respondent.
Efforts to increase e-prescribing adoption got a boost in September when AAHomecare, VGM & Associates, Apria Healthcare, AdaptHealth, Lincare and Rotech Healthcare joined forces to launch DMEscripts, an industry-backed platform.
A sign that the industry is still in the early stages of adoption: For the about 72% of respondents who say they’re already using e-prescribing, it’s been for less than three years. But they say it’s paying off.
“The benefits of e-prescribe are numerous: lower cost to service patients, drives down inbound calls, better contact and continuity with my referrals,” wrote one respondent.
The obstacles to e-prescribing, however, are still very real, respondents say. Among them: Physician offices that love faxing and referral sources that say e-prescribing increases, not decreases, their workload.
“Many of our referral sources are using Epic to write orders,” writes Heather Rauch of ChelseaCare HME in Michigan. “If they have to use a different portal to write orders for DME, they are not interested. If there were a system that integrated into both Epic and Brightree for DME prescribing, that would be excellent.”
Obstacles aside, even referral sources are increasingly seeing the benefit. Sixty-five percent of respondents say referral sources are more open to using e-prescribing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Most of our referral sources are using it,” wrote Lee Guay of UNC Homecare Specialists in North Carolina. “We have seen an increase in referrals (because of it).”
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