Aetna's New Jersey e-Prescribing Pilot Shows 5-7 Percent Increase in Use of Generic and Formulary Drugs.-- By Equipping e·quip tr.v. e·quipped, e·quip·ping, e·quips 1. a. To supply with necessities such as tools or provisions. b. Doctors with ZixCorp's PocketScript([R]) Hand-Held hand-held also hand·held adj. Compact enough to be used or operated while being held in the hand or hands: a hand-held video camera. Adj. 1. Devices, Aetna Aetna, volcano: see Etna, Italy. Sees Adoption of e-Prescribing e-prescribing Therapeutics The use of handheld electronic products to communicate with pharmacies and provide prescribing information -- Aetna (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : AET AET Aetna, Inc. AET After Extra Time AET Actual Evapotranspiration AET Alliance for Environmental Technology AET Alpha-Ethyltryptamine AET Applied Extrusion Technologies, Inc. ):
WHAT: Aetna (NYSE: AET) conducted a pilot with Zix Corporation
(Nasdaq: ZIXI) that began on July 5, 2005, providing 1,000
handheld devices and ZixCorp.'s PocketScript service to its
network providers in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. The
pilot targeted doctors who see a large percentage of patients
with Aetna coverage. Based on the pilot's success, the two
companies have since expanded it to New York and Connecticut
and have provided PocketScript to an additional 750 doctors.
The findings:
-- Greater ability to provide access to timely information,
such as formulary and generic drug choices, which assists
in lowering a member's out of pocket costs
-- An improvement in formulary compliance of five percent and
an improvement in generic drug prescribing of seven
percent, which translate into cost savings for members in
many plans
-- Access to information to help facilitate drug safety
checks such as drug-drug interactions at the time the new
drug is being prescribed.
WHO: Jeff Taylor, R.Ph.M.S., Pharmacy Director, or Ed Pezalla, M.D.,
National Medical Director, available for interviews to discuss:
-- More details of the pilot's findings
-- Physicians' support and adoption of e-prescribing
-- The ability of e-prescribing to drastically improve the
flow of information between physicians and a patient's
health plan and then between the physician and dispensing
pharmacies
Rick Spurr, CEO of ZixCorp, is also available for interviews.
Participating doctors also available to discuss their
e-Prescribing experience with PocketScript, an application that
allows them to order prescriptions through a secure wireless
mobile PDA or secure website and deliver them electronically to
pharmacies.
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