Geisinger completes launch of E-prescribing system
System saves time for patients & clinicians; improves safety
DANVILLE, PA. – An electronic prescription ordering system that reduces patient wait time in the pharmacy and improves patient safety is now available at all 40 Geisinger community practice sites, the system announced today.
Geisinger’s e-prescribing system transmits prescriptions directly from the doctor’s office to the patient’s pharmacy via a secure computer network. By streamlining the loop from doctor to pharmacist to patient, e-prescribing helps reduce drug errors due to misinterpretation of handwriting as well of the possibility of a patient misplacing a paper prescription.
“This is an important benefit for our patients,” said Richard Martin, a physician at Geisinger Medical Group- Lake Scranton who is a medical director for the community practice service line. “Since patients don’t have to worry about losing their paper prescriptions, they are more likely to get their prescriptions filled.”
Since launching the service at Geisinger physician offices in Millville, Bloomsburg and Catawissa in March, more than 175,000 Geisinger scripts have been filled at Weis Markets, CVS, Rite Aid, Giant, Wal-Mart and other pharmacies in the region.
The system increases staff efficiency by eliminating the need for nurses and clerical staff to fax prescriptions to pharmacies and phone calls to confirm details in patient medical records. At most participating Geisinger physician offices, this translates to a savings of three hours a day.
“E-prescribing helps avoid hand-off errors that can occur when a medication is incorrectly ordered or understood by the provider and pharmacy,” Dr. Martin explained.
Specialty clinics at Geisinger’s hospitals in Danville and Wilkes Barre are scheduled to launch e-prescribing by late December.