Slightly less than half of all U.S. prescriptions were submitted electronically in 2012, according to a new report from electronic prescribing network Surescripts, FierceEMR reports.
Key Findings
The report found that about 44% of all prescriptions were submitted electronically by the end of 2012, up from 36% by the end of 2011. The total number of electronic prescriptions submitted increased from 570 million in 2011 to 788 million in 2012.
According to the report, 69% of all U.S. physicians were e-prescribing in 2012. The report also found that in 2012:
- 24 states had more than 70% of physicians e-prescribing, with Delaware having the highest rate, at 82%; and
- No state had an e-prescribing rate that was lower than 40%.
Additional Findings
The report found that about 48% of office visits in 2012 resulted in electronically generated medication history requests, compared with 31% in 2011 (Durben Hirsch, FierceEMR, 5/7).
However, the report found that the number of prescription renewals submitted electronically dropped from 96 million in 2011 to 82 million in 2012 (Schueth, HealthTechZone, 5/6).