Caremark Subsidiary Offers iScribe Electronic Prescribing Technology To 10,000 Physicians To Improve Patient Safety and Reduce Healthcare Costs.NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- SilverScript Insurance Company, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical services company Caremark Rx  The introduction to this article may be too long. Please help improve the introduction by moving some material from it into the body of the article according to the suggestions at , Inc., today announced it is
offering the company's iScribe electronic prescribing service free
of charge to 10,000 physicians in seven states Co part of an effort to
build momentum for using technology that can improve patient safety and
reduce healthcare costs.
Improved patient safety is a key contributor to increasing national interest in e-prescribing, especially in avoiding adverse drug interactions. A report by the Institute of Medicine states that medication errors medication error Malpractice An error in the type of medication administered or dosage. See Adverse effect, Error. harm at least 1.5 million people every year and cites studies associating paper-based prescribing with high error rates. The report calls for all prescriptions to be written electronically by 2010. Beginning this month and continuing in phases through mid-2007, SilverScript will offer invitations to high-prescribing physicians, nurse practitioners nurse practitioner n. Abbr. NP A registered nurse with special training for providing primary health care, including many tasks customarily performed by a physician. and physician assistants in 27 metropolitan areas located in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Florida and Texas. The program is intended to encourage prescribers to adopt e-prescribing technology by providing hardware, software, Web tools access, installation and training at no cost to those who choose to enroll. SilverScript, a Medicare Part D prescription drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, plan sponsor, initially plans to sponsor up to 10,000 prescribers in the turnkey effort. Health plan sponsors and employers with covered plan participants Plan participants Employees or other beneficiaries who are eligible to receive benefits from a company's employee benefit plan. in the targeted metropolitan areas will have the opportunity to jointly market the new iScribe expansion program. The program will also promote use of the iScribe Web tools, which are available at no cost to any prescriber. This extends the iScribe services to office staff and to prescribers not included in the initial regional program. "The future of electronic prescribing is about much more than replacing a physician's pad and pen, and we at Caremark have made a commitment to framing that future," said Mac Crawford, Caremark chairman, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "Our iScribe service is part of a network of integrated information technology (company) Integrated Information Technology - (IIT) A Santa Clara based company producing a programmable, single chip H.261 and MPEG system. The chip contains a RISC processor, originally based on the MIPS architecture but now called RISCit, and a "Pixel Processor". that brings new possibilities to the healthcare industry. It enables physicians, patients and payors to connect to common goals as never before." As more physicians adopt electronic prescribing technology, thousands of patients in the target markets will see first-hand Co and likely for the first time Co how the service can offer greater safety and convenience. For instance: * Using the iScribe software and a handheld PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld computer for managing contacts, appointments and tasks. It typically includes a name and address database, calendar, to-do list and note taker, which are the functions in a personal information manager (see PIM). or desktop computer, physicians can generate prescriptions for transmission directly to their patients' pharmacy of choice via a secure Internet connection, or print prescriptions for patients to deliver to a pharmacy. * Physicians can check for potentially harmful drug interactions at the point of prescribing, or follow up with patients when iScribe alerts them to unfilled prescriptions. * An online prescription renewal tool enables physicians to easily review incoming requests and respond electronically, reducing phone calls and faxes between the practice and the pharmacy. * Physicians can use the electronic prescribing tools to write prescriptions for any patient, regardless of the patient's prescription benefit coverage. The iScribe program is one element of a suite of online services that works together to improve healthcare and reduce costs Co ranging from physician connectivity tools that streamline the prescribing process to plan participant resources that link physicians, patients and health plan administrators to pharmacy benefit information. The iScribe system, for example, has been shown to improve plan participant use of lower-cost generic drugs generic drug, a drug sold or prescribed under the nonproprietary name of its active ingredients or under a generally descriptive name rather than under a brand or trade name. . The technology also offers a unique platform that will provide customized, data-driven programs to prescribers via future service offerings. "Health plans and employers want a comprehensive solution that also enables individuals to take a more active role in their healthcare," Mr. Crawford said. "The SilverScript investment pushes information to the point of prescribing to help drive patient safety and cost containment cost containment, n the features of a dental benefits program or of the administration of the program designed to reduce or eliminate certain charges to the plan. . This initiative will benefit SilverScript participants, and extend those benefits throughout the healthcare system," Mr. Crawford said. The metropolitan areas selected for the iScribe expansion program are: * New York: Albany-Schenectady-Troy, Nassau-Suffolk and New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. * New Jersey: Newark, Monmouth, Middlesex-Hunterdon, Bergen-Passaic, Jersey City, Trenton, Atlantic-Cape May, Vineland * Tennessee: Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga * Florida: Tallahassee, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale (lô`dərdāl), residential, commercial, and resort city (1990 pop. 149,377), seat of Broward co., SE Fla., on the Atlantic coast; settled around a fort built (c.1837) in the Seminole War, inc. 1911. , West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Jacksonville, Orlando * Texas: San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. , Austin, Houston * Maryland: Baltimore and Washington, DC metro area This article is about the music production team. For the article about population centers, see metropolitan area. Metro Area are a Brooklyn-based dance music production team composed of Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani. * Virginia: Arlington-Alexandria-Reston in DC metro area About Caremark Rx, Inc. Caremark Rx, Inc. is a leading pharmaceutical services company, providing through its affiliates comprehensive drug benefit services to health plan sponsors and their plan participants throughout the U.S. The company's clients include corporate health plans, managed care organizations, insurance companies, unions, government agencies and other funded benefit plans. In addition, Caremark is a national provider of drug benefits to eligible beneficiaries under the Medicare Part D program. The company operates a national retail pharmacy network with over 60,000 participating pharmacies, seven mail service pharmacies, the industry's only FDA-regulated repackaging plant and 21 licensed specialty pharmacies for delivery of advanced medications to individuals with chronic or genetic diseases and disorders. Additional information about Caremark is available at www.caremarkrx.com or in the company's Forms 10-K, 10-Q and other SEC filings. |
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