To the Editor:

I would like to ask for clarification about Dr. Louis Spikol’s article “Good Medicine: E-Prescribing” [October 2002, page 63]. Regarding the estimated monthly costs for Allscripts prescribing software, Dr. Spikol indicates that his practice pays about $50 per month per physician. I find that price to be amazingly low. Allscripts recently quoted me nothing near that rate. I realize the price is dependent upon the practice size; however, I would be interested to know whether Dr. Spikol’s office is still paying that amount. I noticed he is a shareholder of Allscripts. Perhaps he gets a better rate because of that?

Author’s response:

The price my (now former) practice pays for Allscripts has nothing to do with me being a shareholder. We got involved with e-prescribing fairly early, and we continue to pay $50 per doctor per month. I’m sure Allscripts found they could not continue to support their product at this price, especially as they began to offer a more complete model. Thus the price of their e-prescribing software has jumped significantly.