DrChrono Blog

Four years ago, the Institute of Medicine issued a press release on the benefits of electronic prescribing, and now that the iPad has revolutionized mobile technology in the doctor’s office, these benefits are worth reviewing. DrChrono.com and its point-of-care iPad EMR platform unveiled its eRx functionality recently, and is the first and only iPad platform with this feature. Below are some of the highlights of the press release.

• “Medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.”

• “A study of outpatient clinics found that medication-related injuries there resulted in roughly $887 million in extra medical costs in 2000.”

• “New computerized systems for prescribing drugs and other applications of information technology show promise for reducing the number of drug-related mistakes, the report says. Studies indicate that paper-based prescribing is associated with high error rates.”

• “Electronic prescribing is safer because it eliminates problems with handwriting legibility, and when combined with decision-support tools, automatically alerts prescribers to possible interactions, allergies, and other potential problems…”

You can view a video showcasing DrChrono.com’s eRx feature here:

http://drchrono.wpengine.com/2010/08/17/ipad-emr-eprescribing-now-available/

Reference:

Bootman, et al. Preventing Medication Errors. Institute of Medicine Press Release, July 20, 2006.