Electronic Prescribing Industry Switches

Before adopting electronic prescribing, HealthCore MSO wants to ensure you and your practice are informed of the two primary channels of electronic data interchange for submitting and receiving electronic prescriptions.

RxHub:
-  Background - RxHub was founded in 2001 by the three largest PBMs - CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and, Medco Health Solutions - resulting in a nationwide, ePrescribing information exchange network.
-  What does RxHub provide me - the Prescriber? RxHub utilizes (and develops) industry transactional standards to securely communicate consenting patient information in real-time between ePrescribing stakeholders and provides clinical decision support information (patient eligibility, benefits, formulary, and medication history) for more than 200 million patients to physicians at the point-of-care.
-  What services are provided by RxHub? Electronic connectivity between payers, physicians, and pharmacists is essential to improving patient safety and managing health care costs. The two primary services offered by RxHub include:
o RxHub PRN: provides electronic delivery of Payer/PBM member data to clinicians in an ambulatory care setting (i.e. Access to Eligibility, Formulary, and Medication History information).
o RxHub SIG: provides direct electronic conveyance of prescriptions between doctor and pharmacy (i.e. New and Refill/Renewal prescription routing to patient-s choice of Retail or Mail-Order pharmacy).

SureScripts:
-  Background - SureScripts was founded in 2001 by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA, which is comprised of Independent Pharmacies) and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS)
-  What does SureScripts provide me - the Prescriber? SureScripts operates the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange which facilitates the electronic transmission of prescription information between physicians and pharmacists. SureScripts is the conduit to your local retail pharmacy.
-  What services are provided by SureScripts? SureScripts has signed contracts, tested and certified the software of pharmacies, and pharmacy technology vendors, that represent over 95% of U.S. retail pharmacies. [SureScripts does not sell, develop or endorse software.]

What does this mean to me?

Be sure your software application is certified with both RxHub and Surescripts.
-  Cheat Sheet - RxHub = PBM and Mail-Order; and, SureScripts = Retail Pharmacy
-  Physicians interested in automating the prescribing process should utilize an e-prescribing or Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system that has been certified to connect to RxHub and SureScripts
-  If your practice is already using electronic prescribing technology, contact your vendor representative and verify a connection to both, RxHub and SureScripts.

[Note: Many software vendors state they provide electronic prescribing, but many do not connect to RxHub and/or SureScripts. In this instance, you are not e-prescribing (paperless electronic transmission) instead you are e-faxing. Effective January 1, 2009, computer-generated faxed prescriptions will no longer be in compliance with Medicare requirements.]

If you have any questions regarding electronic prescribing, please feel free to contact HealthCore MSO.