CalPERS, Anthem Blue Cross, Medco Health Solutions, and Blue Shield of California Look to Promote Adoption Among Physicians

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The State of California's efforts to move into the age of wired health care received a shot in the arm today as The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) joined with Anthem Blue Cross, Medco Health Solutions, Inc., and Blue Shield of California to launch the state's largest electronic prescribing (e-Prescribing) initiative to date. Medco Health Solutions is providing project management resources for the pilot program.

The pilot program, the latest large-scale initiative in the United States, will use input from participating physicians to determine the best ways to employ e-Prescribing technology in their practices and facilitate use by all prescribers. Program organizers will track results such as the number of identified preventable adverse drug events, use of e-Prescribing, and generic drug and formulary prescribing rates. A report to be released at the end of the study will showcase results of the pilot program.

The scope of the project includes working with several physician groups that serve CalPERS members in addition to other patients in the community. The health plan Anthem Blue Cross and the health plan Blue Shield of California will each work with the pilot medical groups and their chosen e-Prescribing vendors to address barriers to e-Prescribing.

'The evidence supports the thesis that e-Prescribing improves patient safety, enhances the quality of patient care, and reduces cost to the physician, the health plan and the patient,' said Priya Mathur, Chair of the CalPERS Health Benefits Committee. 'Our goal with this pilot project is to protect our members' safety, while accelerating the acceptance and adoption of e-Prescribing by the physicians who serve them.'

'We believe that e-Prescribing is the first step to wiring health care, and that working well with doctors is essential to e-Prescribing's success. Our initiative will help us identify how to best transition to technology solutions that will help doctors improve outcomes and lower costs.' said John P. Driscoll, Medco's President of New Markets.

'I believe e-Prescribing used at this broader level will help ensure patient safety on several fronts,' said Leslie A. Margolin, president of Anthem Blue Cross. 'This tool will help to eliminate the danger of handwriting misinterpretation or having incomplete patient information. e-Prescribing can also flag drug-to-drug interactions and allergies at the point of care.'

'e-Prescribing reduces medication errors, lowers prescription drug costs and decreases administrative costs for physicians and pharmacies,' said Nancy Stalker, vice president, pharmacy benefit management, Blue Shield of California. 'At Blue Shield of California, we are committed to improving the quality and accessibility of health care, and we expect this pilot program to help speed the adoption of e-Prescribing throughout California.'

e-Prescribing uses an automated data entry system (such as a desktop computer, handheld device or personal computer tablet) in the physician's office to electronically submit a prescription to the patient's pharmacy of choice. e-Prescribing gives physicians real-time access to important safety and prescription coverage information, so they can make more informed prescribing decisions.