never even identified, much less resolved, in a timely
manner. With e-prescribing, we now have the opportunity
to identify and resolve more problems and
reduce the time it takes to do both.
Assessing e-prescribing quality requires defining,
measuring and analyzing the safety, accuracy and
completeness of the electronic prescriptions that flow
through the network. Actions to improve the process
are then identified and implemented. Collaboration
is necessary between participants involved to understand
and fix the root cause of the issues and to control
and avoid them moving forward. Efforts to measure
and analyze quality should continue to expand
and evolve. Collaboration and communication are
essential to realizing continuous improvement in the
quality of the prescribing process.
The Surescripts’ Quality Program was created to
enhance quality within health information exchange
operations. The five key principles that define the
Surescripts’ Quality Program include:
Standards Compliant
Surescripts is a participant in national standards-setting
efforts. Whenever possible, we try to use standards
instead of inventing proprietary interfaces. Our certification
and compliance efforts ensure that technical software
applications meet or exceed all relevant standards
and criteria.
Reliable
Over 99.93% of prescriptions sent electronically are
received in the pharmacy in less than 5 minutes. As a
reliability check, end-to-end monitoring capabilities
exist to immediately detect any problems along the
way. Surescripts also operates a national E-Prescribing
Support Desk that manages any issues that might occur.
Manageable
Since there is end-to-end visibility within the e-prescribing
process, any prescription can be located in real-time.
Surescripts deploys reporting tools that illustrate trends
and patterns and provides the opportunity to address
issues as they arise. Prescription integrity is then verified
throughout the network. Contractual and business
relationships also exist to ensure that the integrity of the
network is maintained. |
Accurate
Prescription accuracy is key to the quality of patient
care. For illustration purposes, if you were a pharmacist,
how many capsules would you dispense for each of
these prescriptions?

Safe
E-Prescribing eliminates many of the existing potential
errors while technology allows us to measure and report
on safety issues. Analytic and automated checks allow
for better decisions to be made in a more timely fashion.
Information on Surescripts can be found at
www.surescripts.com. For more information about
Surescripts Quality Program, please contact David
Yakimischak, who leads the Surescripts’ Quality Office
which incorporates technical, clinical and Six Sigma
capabilities into its programs and analyses on behalf of
Surescripts and the nation’s e-prescribing ecosystem
(including payers, pharmacies, software vendors and
physicians). David and the quality team can be reached
at quality@surescripts.com.  |