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.