AAFP, Others Collaborate to Boost E-Prescribing Efforts

In an effort to push the adoption and use of health information technology -- particularly e-prescribing -- the AAFP has joined with SureScripts and other health care stakeholders to launch the Center for Improving Medication Management.

Steve Waldren, M.D., director of AAFP's Center for Health Information Technology, will serve on the board of directors for the new medication management center.

Waldren noted that the AAFP had been talking about the physician's role in medication management for many months. "The creation of the Center (for Improving Medication Management) formalizes those discussions into action," he said.

SureScripts operates the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, a network service that facilitates the electronic transmission of prescription information between pharmacists, physicians and patients.

Other co-founders of the Center are BlueCross BlueShield Association, Humana Inc., Intel Corp. and the Medical Group Management Association.

E-prescribing, when fully implemented, holds potential benefits for everyone involved -- from physicians, pharmacists and patients to employers and insurance plans, said Waldren, adding that the Academy's seat at the table will ensure that as e-prescribing best practices are developed, they are efficient, have value to the patient, "and are in harmony with family medicine and the patient-centered medical home." (3-page PDF: About PDFs)

According to an Aug. 15 AAFP press release, the new center will initiate programs to gather and disseminate best practices for deployment of technology that electronically links physicians, pharmacists and patients. It also will conduct research to find out how those groups can better use technology to improve

Family physicians and their patients will benefit from the center's work, said Waldren. For example, prescribing physicians currently lack access to a patient's medication history, even though the pharmacy that fills the prescription and the insurer who pays for the prescription have stored that data electronically.

"As a physician, if I have access to that prescription history, I can see if my patient with uncontrolled diabetes is filling her prescription and actually taking the medication I'm prescribing," said Waldren. If necessary, the physician and patient can discuss why a prescription hasn't been filled and then work to find a solution. For instance, if the drug's cost is prohibitive, alternate therapies could be considered, said Waldren.

According to the press release, growing evidence of low rates of medication adherence in the United States is of primary concern to the center's founders.

A report recently released by the National Council on Patient Information and Education, indicates that nearly 75 percent of American consumers surveyed said they don't always take their prescription medications as directed.

The executive summary of "Enhancing Prescription Medicine Adherence: A National Action Plan" (38-page PDF; About PDFs) states that poor medication adherence adds an estimated $177 billion annually to health care costs in the United States.