TECHNOLOGYPBMs make their way into electronic prescriptionsPharmacy benefit management companies hook themselves up with doctors' offices to encourage more physicians to adopt online prescribing systems.By Tyler Chin, amednews staff. March 26, 2001. Three of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the country are planning to develop an online exchange that will electronically connect physician offices to the PBMs and pharmacies. The online exchange, RxHub LLC, will allow doctors to transmit electronic prescriptions to pharmacies while patients are still in their office, said the PBMs, which administer the prescription benefit on behalf of employers and health plans. When doctors use the exchange, PBMs and pharmacies will let them know immediately whether prescriptions are covered by patients' health plans. Physicians also will be alerted about potential adverse drug events and will be asked if insurers' preferred medications can be substituted for what was originally prescribed. The three PBMs -- AdvancePCS, Irving, Texas; Express Scripts Inc., St. Louis; and Merck-Medco Managed Care LLC, Franklin Lakes, N.J. -- said the exchange would improve patient safety and save time for physicians and patients. For example, pharmacies, physicians and patients will benefit because RxHub would spare them from either making or receiving phone calls and additional paperwork because prescription-related problems would be caught at the front end rather than when the patient is at the pharmacy. The PBMs estimated that about 5% of the country's physicians are prescribing electronically and that doctors receive 100 million calls annually from pharmacists about illegible prescriptions, potential medication errors and substitutions. "This system will allow us to go one step further in the doctor's office, yielding substantial savings for all involved," said David D. Halbert, CEO of AdvancePCS.
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Copyright 2001 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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