The Benefits of ePrescribing for Dentists

Moving from paper to electronic prescriptions holds benefits not only for your practice, but also for your patients.

Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) software for dentists enables prescribers “to electronically send accurate, error free and understandable prescriptions directly to a pharmacy.” E-prescribing has many benefits for not only prescribers but, more importantly, for patients. Patient safety has been and will remain the driver behind regulatory requirements that encourage switching to e-prescribing. With regulatory requirements now starting to include dentists due to the types of medications prescribed, dentists should be aware of the other reasons why it’s important to implement e-prescribing software into their dental practices.

Electronically Prescribe and Monitor Controlled Substance Prescriptions

With electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS), prescribers are better able to track controlled substance prescriptions written by other providers, reducing the likelihood of over-prescribing or “doctor shopping.” To help minimize drug abuse, many states have created legislation to require EPCS. The states of AZ, CT, FL, IA, MA, ME, MN, NY, NJ, OH, OK, PA, RI, and TN already have active mandates, and many more states will have mandates beginning in 2021. In addition, there is a growing number of pharmacies, such as Walmart, that are beginning to accept only electronic prescriptions for controlled substances. Using Henry Schein One ePrescribe will help you to monitor your patients’ prescriptions, and to be prepared for the upcoming mandates and policies.

Strengthen Your Ability to Prevent Prescription Drug Errors

Whereas a medication error is a failure in the treatment process that leads to (or has the potential to lead to) harm to the patient, a prescription error is a failure in the prescription writing process that results in an incorrect instruction regarding one or more of the normal features of a prescription. Henry Schein One ePrescribe delivers advanced, affordable, cloud-based e-Prescribing to thousands of dental professionals. Henry Schein One ePrescribe supports dental prescribers with notifications of allergies, drug interaction details, duplicate therapy warnings, and other relevant content that can help you keep your patients safe, while also ensuring pharmacists no longer need to struggle to decipher handwritten prescriptions.

Drive Improved Medication Adherence

Medication adherence refers to the patient’s compliance with the clinician’s care plan with respect to timing, dosage, and frequency of prescribed medication(s). One-third to one-half of U.S. patients do not take their medication as prescribed and two-thirds of medication-related hospital admissions are due to non-adherence, costing our healthcare system $100 billion a year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), non-adherence to drug therapy causes 30% to 50% percent of treatment failures and leads to ~125,000 deaths per year. Fill reminders and patient education tools in Henry Schein One RxInfo helps patients better understand the importance of picking up and following through on their prescribed therapies.

More Easily Verify Insurance

Dentists, like other prescribers, have no way of knowing patient-specific drug pricing and alternatives when handwriting prescriptions. Even the majority who e-prescribe have no way of knowing the cost of medications when writing prescriptions until recently. Price transparency is when all of the parties involved in a transaction know the pricing of the products being bought and sold. Price transparency has rapidly evolved into a prominent means to empower patients to take control of their healthcare. Prescription price transparency solutions, such as Henry Schein One ePrescribe’s TruePriceRx, make it easier for dentists to choose medications that will be covered by a patient’s drug benefit plan or otherwise determine the most cost-effective out-of-pocket options for their patient which, in turn, increases the likelihood that the patient will pick up their medication and adhere to their care plan.