10 Essential Benefits of e-Prescription

The healthcare industry is experiencing a profound transformation which is driven by technological advancements improving efficiency and patient outcomes along with reducing costs. One of these significant advancements is electronic prescribing (e-Prescribing) which streamlines prescription processes and offers various benefits to patients, health professionals, pharmacists and other relevant stakeholders. In this blog, we explore the essential advantages of electronic prescribing in healthcare globally, highlighting how this technology is revolutionizing the way medications are prescribed, dispensed and managed. 

What is e-Prescribing and e-Prescription? 

e-Prescribing is the process of electronically generating and transmitting prescription orders from healthcare providers to patients and pharmacies. This process’ output is a digital prescription which is commonly known as e-Prescription. The process eliminates the need for handwritten prescriptions, reducing manual errors and making prescription management more efficient for all stakeholders from prescribers to patients. In the following sections, we dive into the key benefits of electronic prescription. 

10 Vital Benefits of e-Prescription 

There are different advantages of electronic prescription for patients, health professionals, healthcare providers and healthcare authorities. e-Prescribing seamlessly connects healthcare providers, pharmacies and patients, increasing patient safety. Let’s learn 10 essential benefits of e-Prescription in detail. 

Improved Accuracy and Reduced Errors for Patient Safety 

e-Prescription systems ensure the accuracy of prescriptions by incorporating drug databases, prescribing rules and decision-support tools. These systems issue clinical alerts to the prescriber when a medication is prescribed that is contraindicated or inappropriate based on the patient’s diagnosis, helping to prevent incorrect prescriptions and erroneous processes. Additionally, the systems' dosage control features allow healthcare providers to set precise medication dosages, decreasing the risk of overdosing or underdosing, which is crucial for patient safety. By checking contraindications and ensuring clinical safety, e-Prescription systems improve overall patient safety. 

In addition to clinical alerts and dosage control features, these systems address the major drawbacks of traditional physical prescriptions like handwriting errors by prescribers and misinterpretation by pharmacists, further reinforcing patient safety. Prescribers’ illegible handwriting can cause the dispensing of incorrect medications, compromising patient safety. e-Prescribing eliminates the need for manual prescription writing, removing the risk of errors associated with illegible handwriting and ensuring clarity, ultimately improving patient safety. 

The Prevention of Allergies and Drug-Drug Interactions 

e-Prescriptions contribute to the prevention of medication interactions and allergies from medication by automatically cross-checking a patient’s medical history during the creation of a drug prescription. Like our Central e-Prescription, some e-Prescription systems, which are integrated with a drug database, inform prescribers on potential medication allergies, drug interactions and other critical issues like pregnancy period and chronic conditions. By warning about potential risks, these systems ensure that the prescribed drug does not conflict with the patient’s existing treatments and health condition. The systems increase patient safety and decrease mortality rates worldwide by detecting life-threatening circumstances.  

Accurate and Up-to-Date Drug Database 

When integrated with up-to-date drug databases, e-Prescription systems provide the prescribing physician with essential drug information such as drug monographs, indications, dosage, precautions, warnings, price information and details of equivalent drugs, enabling the accurate writing of prescriptions. Also, these systems include general drug information such as active ingredient, manufacturer information, reimbursement institution, equivalent code, equivalent drug group, drug image, summary of product characteristics, user manual and more. Doctors generate error-free, digital prescriptions rapidly by using up-to-date and accurate drug information. 

Reduced Prescription Fraud and Misuse 

Prescription fraud can take many forms such as forged, altered or stolen prescriptions. This significant challenge can lead to pharmaceutical abuse and financial losses. e-Prescribing minimizes prescription fraud by ensuring that all prescriptions are securely recorded and verified digitally. Only authorized healthcare providers can issue prescriptions through e-Prescription systems, significantly limiting the risk of unauthorized dispensing and misuse of medications. Additionally, the digital nature of e-Prescribing creates auditable trails, making it easier to track and prevent fraudulent activities. This level of security offers enhanced protection for both patients and healthcare providers, further combating prescription fraud. 

Enhanced Medication Management through EHR and PHR Integration 

e-Prescription systems integrated with Electronic Health Record (EHR) enable healthcare professionals to access up-to-date patient health data such as medical history, previous prescriptions, diseases, current treatments, allergies and more, ensuring that prescriptions are accurate and aligned with the patient’s health condition. This integration helps healthcare professionals make informed decisions, reducing the risk of prescribing errors and improving patient safety. When integrated with Personal Health Record (PHR) systems, e-Prescription systems allow patients to access their current and past prescription information, including the medications they are taking and the dates when medications can be refilled. This empowers patients by increasing their engagement in their healthcare, giving them better control over their treatments and ensuring timely refills, which reduces the risk of missed doses. 

Dispensing Accuracy 

e-Prescription systems perform detailed calculations at the single-dosage pill level, ensuring that the dispensed medication matches the exact prescribed amount. This eliminates the risk of patients receiving incorrect dosages such as more or less medication than intended. By ensuring precise alignment with the prescription, these systems promote optimal therapeutic outcomes, reducing the potential for medication errors and improving overall treatment effectiveness. 

The Prevention of Narcotics and Psychotherapeutics’ Abuse 

The abuse of narcotics and psychotherapeutics, which refers to the use of these drugs for purposes other than their intended medical use, can lead to significant issues related to health, social life, mental health, and physical well-being. e-Prescription systems prevent such abuse by utilizing powerful algorithms and monitoring mechanisms. These systems ensure responsible prescribing practices by incorporating extensive control features, such as real-time alerts for unusual prescribing patterns, integration with drug enforcement databases and predictive analytics to identify potential misuse early. By analyzing trends over time, these systems provide healthcare professionals with the tools needed to detect and prevent narcotic and psychotherapeutic abuse before it escalates. 

Reduced Waste and Increased Efficiency 

e-Prescribing eliminates the need for paper prescriptions; this reduces paperwork for both healthcare providers and pharmacies and contributes to environmental sustainability. In addition to decreasing administrative burdens and paper waste, digital prescription records reduce the risk of lost prescriptions. Digitizing the prescription process also ensures that prescriptions are securely stored, accessible and easily accessed when needed, further enhancing patient care. 

Automated Refill Authorization 

Healthcare professionals can set criteria for automatic refills on eligible prescriptions via e-Prescription systems which automate the refill authorization process. Thanks to the automated refill authorization, patients do not need to initiate requests and healthcare providers do not have to manually intervene in the refill process. Additionally, this feature ensures continuous drug availability without risking patient care and safety. 

Saving of Time and Cost Saving 

e-Prescription systems significantly reduce the time associated with prescription processes from writing to dispensing. With these systems, doctors quickly create and send prescriptions, pharmacies receive them instantly and patients pick up their prescribed drugs without delay and long wait times. This efficiency allows healthcare professionals to focus on patient care rather than dealing with administrative tasks. 

In addition to saving of time, e-Prescriptions reduce unnecessary costs by streamlining prescription processes and reducing errors. e-Prescription systems minimize medication errors which could lead to additional treatments. Moreover, these systems prevent duplicate prescriptions which increase healthcare expenses and reduce paperwork and administrative tasks to save resources for relevant stakeholders. 

e-Prescriptions are significantly improving the healthcare industry by digitalizing and streamlining prescription processes, offering many advantages for patients, healthcare providers and pharmacies. As Tiga Healthcare Technologies, we emphasize the transformative impact of e-Prescribing on the efficiency and safety of healthcare services through our Central e-Prescription System. The Central e-Prescription handles electronic prescribing processes and ensures the accurate prescribing of pharmaceuticals. By seamlessly connecting healthcare providers and pharmacies, this innovative technology reduces the risk of errors in medication prescriptions and dispenses, maximizing patient safety. With over 81 million patients, more than 246,000 physicians and over 30,000 pharmacies, our Central e-Prescription processes more than 2 million prescriptions every day, playing a vital role in the national healthcare system.  

From improving prescription accuracy and patient safety to reducing fraud and enhancing medication adherence, e-Prescriptions transform the future of healthcare.  

Let’s shape the future together with efficient, secure and precise prescription management, as always!