Digital Prescription in Pharmacy: A High Dose of Convenience

July 26, 2022

Digital prescription, often called E-Prescription, is doing wonders in modernizing our healthcare space. It’s a critical component of the 21st-century digital health revolution alongside HMS software. Gone are the days when physicists reached out to their pad and pen. Now, their hands go onto the keyboard while suggesting medicine. 

Technology brings convenience. Like many other tech products, E-prescriptions take this convenience to a whole new level. Electronic prescribing can benefit doctors and patients. 

According to a research article published in JMR, 98% of pharmacies and 81% of physicians in New York state use e-prescriptions for controlled substances. This data reflects the quick adoption of digital prescriptions by pharmacies and prescribers. Today, we’ll examine how digital prescriptions are revolutionizing the modern healthcare system. Let’s start with the definition. 

What is Digital Prescription?

Digital Prescription is the computer-based generation and transmission of medical prescriptions. Whenever an electronic device is used between two parties to recommend medication, it can be described as a digital prescription. While software plays a key role, handheld devices like tablets and smartphones work as the input medium. 

Doctors, pharmacists, and clinics usually use this medium of communication with patients. E-prescribing has served its purpose quite well. Among the benefits of digital prescription adoption is the secure transmission of prescription data to pharmacists, who can start placing orders immediately. Let’s expand on this. 

Benefits of E-Prescription over Traditional Prescription

Thanks to practice management software, e-prescribing has become a streamlined process and a common practice in many parts of the world. The reasons behind the fast adoption of digitized prescriptions are significant. 

Reduces Opioid Frauds

According to the US Department of Justice, opioid fraud resulted in more than $6 billion in losses. Most of these frauds involved some paper prescriptions. 

EPCS, or Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances, has put a hold on opioid fraud. Now, fraudsters are finding it challenging to get opioids with handwritten prescriptions as more and more pharmacies are allowing opioid purchases with EPCS only.

Reduces Medication Errors

There are multiple jokes about doctors and their handwriting. Bad handwriting often leads to medication errors, which result in lakhs of deaths per year worldwide. The introduction of E-prescription has greatly resolved this issue. 

With digital prescription in digital pharmacy management, there’s hardly any scope for suggesting the wrong medicine. As all the medication shows in digital writing, it makes pharmacists’ jobs safe and easy. Now, you don’t have to depend on a physician’s writing skills to get the correct medicine for yourself.

Conveniently Stores Medical Data

Digital prescription software is an all-rounder for storing data. If you’re a physician with hundreds of patients under your watch, you should maintain a log of the medication each patient is taking. 

E-prescription software does this job with ease. You don’t need to ask your patients to bring wrinkled paper prescriptions. Instead, you can type the name and check the list of medicines for each patient.

Suggests Insurance-covered Medication

People take media claims to cover all health-related costs. Thus, if a physician suggests a specific medication that is not covered by the patient’s insurance, they become reluctant to buy it in the first place. 

With leading E-prescription software, physicians can suggest medicines specific to insurance coverage. Cloud-based prescription software is equipped with a database that shows the insurance coverage status of any medication. Thus, suggesting medication according to an insurance plan becomes effortless. 

Conclusion

Digital prescription has been the standard practice in first-world nations. India is also going through a revamp in prescribing methods. A few E-prescription software firms, like SoftClinic, are bringing this life-saver tech into India, where the digital health market is still untapped. 

With SoftClinic’s state-of-the-art digital prescription software, clinics can easily digitize their workflow. This benefits the clinics and helps patients avoid atrocities while offering them the ultimate convenience.