ALEXANDRIA, Va. & CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 20,
2004–SureScripts announced an agreement today with Allscripts
Healthcare Solutions (Nasdaq: MDRX) to electronically connect
Allscripts physician clients to SureScripts’ growing national
electronic pharmacy network. Through this partnership, SureScripts and
Allscripts will improve the prescribing process by allowing
computer-to-computer electronic exchange of new prescription and
renewal authorization information between physicians and pharmacists,
improving the efficiency, safety and convenience of the process.
Under the agreement, thousands of physicians who use Allscripts
electronic prescribing solutions – the TouchWorks(TM) Electronic
Medical Record (EMR) and the recently-announced TouchScript.NET(TM)
e-prescribing application – will be able to transmit prescriptions via
SureScripts’ secure national electronic network to the pharmacies of
their patients’ choice.
With strong support from the pharmacy industry, SureScripts is
improving the prescribing process by creating the largest electronic
prescription network and building grassroots support for its
acceptance. Today over fifty percent of the nation’s chain and
independent community pharmacies have completed the certification
process required to connect to its network for electronic prescription
communications and are at various stages of making the capability
available at their pharmacies. That number is expected to increase to
75% by summer.
“Many physicians have indicated strong interest in communicating
prescription information electronically with pharmacists, both new
prescriptions and refill authorizations, as an important first step
toward harnessing technology to improve the quality of healthcare,”
said Kevin Hutchinson, President and Chief Executive Officer of
SureScripts.
“Allscripts Healthcare Solutions has demonstrated leadership in
clinical automation by providing a path that allows physicians to
begin automating their most common clinical functions, like electronic
prescribing, and build to a full electronic medical record,”
Hutchinson stated.
By the end of 2004, SureScripts’ electronic network is expected to
be active in two dozen states. Although there is already significant
overlap between active pharmacies and physicians using Allscripts
e-prescribing solutions, SureScripts and pharmacies connected to its
network are committed to working closely with Allscripts to expand
into additional markets.
“Allscripts is excited to lead the effort with SureScripts to
provide our clients with the most sophisticated electronic
connectivity available to pharmacists today and to improve the
healthcare process,” commented Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer
of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions. “While the e-prescribing functions
of the TouchWorks EMR and the TouchScript.NET solutions increase the
safety and quality of the prescription medication process,
transmission of electronic prescriptions through the SureScripts
network is the next logical improvement.”
Allscripts recently announced the availability of the .NET edition
of TouchScript(TM) – the first module of a complete EMR companion to
Microsoft Office 2003 – with additional modules scheduled for release
later this year. The familiarity of Microsoft Office combined with
powerful clinical modules from Allscripts will help accelerate the use
of technology in the care process by physicians. This new application,
usable in an on-line or off-line mode, will be easily downloadable and
will be available bundled with a variety of HP PCs. Physicians will be
able to implement e-prescribing in their practices cost-effectively in
a matter of minutes.
Electronic prescribing also brings efficiency to the highly
inefficient process of placing phone calls to clarify handwritten
prescriptions and formulary options. Of the more than 3 billion
prescriptions filled annually in the United States, an estimated 30
percent require a time-consuming call back from the pharmacist to the
physician. At seven to eight minutes per call, that equals to $800
million dollars per year or 8,000 full time employees for calls to
clarify information. This time could be better used for counseling and
monitoring of drug therapy.
An increasing number of health advocacy organizations are urging
the medical community to eliminate handwritten prescriptions and
switch to electronic prescribing. Electronic prescribing and
electronic medical records are widely regarded as the most promising
solutions to the problem of medical errors, which has received a great
deal of attention in recent years. According to the Institute of
Medicine, medication errors alone cause over 7,000 deaths every year.
These errors could be significantly reduced with EMRs that include
electronic prescribing.
About SureScripts
With strong support from the pharmacy industry, SureScripts is
improving the prescribing process by creating a neutral national
electronic prescribing network and by building grassroots support for
the acceptance of electronic prescribing. Through its certification
process SureScripts establishes ground rules that safeguard the
fairness of the prescribing process. For more information see
www.surescripts.com.
About Allscripts Healthcare Solutions
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (AHS) is the leading provider of
clinical software, connectivity and information solutions for
physicians. The Company’s TouchWorks software is a modular Electronic
Medical Record (EMR) that enhances physician productivity by
automating the most common physician activities including prescribing,
dictating, capturing charges, ordering labs and viewing results,
providing patient education, and documenting clinical encounters.
TouchWorks is available on the latest Tablet PCs, wireless handheld
devices, desktop workstations and over the Internet. AHS also offers
electronic document imaging and scanning solutions through its
Advanced Imaging Concepts (AIC) subsidiary. Additionally, AHS provides
healthcare product education and market research programs for
physicians through its Physicians Interactive(TM) unit and medication
fulfillment services through its Allscripts Direct(TM) unit. Visit AHS
on the Web at www.allscripts.com.
Strategic partners include IDX Systems (Nasdaq: IDXC); IMS Health
(NYSE: RX); Microsoft; Hewlett-Packard Company; and Medco Health.
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements about
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions that involve risks and uncertainties.
These statements are developed by combining currently available
information with Allscripts beliefs and assumptions. Forward-looking
statements do not guarantee future performance. Because Allscripts
cannot predict all of the risks and uncertainties that may affect it,
or control the ones it does predict, Allscripts’ actual results may be
materially different from the results expressed in its forward-looking
statements. For a more complete discussion of the risks, uncertainties
and assumptions that may affect Allscripts, see the Company’s 2003
Annual Report on Form 10-K, available through the Web site maintained
by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
CONTACT: SureScripts Contact:
Tammy Lewis, 914-400-4376
tammy.lewis@surescripts.com
or
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Contact:
Dan Michelson, 847-680-3515, Ext. 4330
dan.michelson@allscripts.com
SOURCE: Allscripts Healthcare Solutions