Press Releases
RelayHealth to Create End-to-End Electronic Prescribing Solution for Pharmacists, Physicians and Patients
Connection to SureScripts Electronic Prescribing Network™ to Drive Additional Time Savings, Cost Efficiencies, and Enhanced Patient Safety
Emeryville, CA and Fort Lauderdale, FL, March 15, 2006 — RelayHealth Corporation, the nation’s premier provider of secure online healthcare communications and SureScripts®, the nation's largest network provider of electronic prescribing services, have announced an agreement to offer RelayHealth clients the ability to route new prescriptions and receive refill authorizations through the SureScripts Electronic Prescribing Network™ and to utilize medication history services from community pharmacies.
RelayHealth's eScript™ solution is the only online prescription and renewal service to include healthcare consumers in the electronic prescribing process. Once certification on the SureScripts network is complete, RelayHealth will offer an end-to-end e-prescribing solution digitally linking patients, providers, and retail pharmacies through secure technology.
RelayHealth is initially working with SureScripts to provide physician practices using RelayHealth's eScript e-prescribing solution the ability to connect to the SureScripts network and communicate directly with local pharmacies. Using this two-way network connection, physicians and pharmacists will automate the new prescription transmission and refill request process and eliminate the need for manual data entry, faxing and phone calls.
A study by the Medical Group Management Association estimated that administrative complexity related to prescriptions costs a practice at least $20,000 per year for each full-time physician on staff. In the course of a single month, this translates to 55 hours that could be applied to patient care instead of administrative duties.
In 2006, SureScripts will build on its core prescription routing services by launching a regionally-based rollout of medication history services. Prior to those services being made available to patients through its Personal Health Record, RelayHealth will work closely with SureScripts, physicians, and pharmacists to establish certification standards based on HIPAA compliance rules, state privacy laws and strict methods for ensuring patient confidentiality and authentication.
"SureScripts has enabled the secure, efficient transmission of electronic prescriptions between physicians and pharmacists. With the debut of our medication history service, the most important stakeholder — the healthcare consumer — will now be engaged in, and empowered by, the e-prescribing process as well," said Kevin Hutchinson, president and chief executive officer of SureScripts. "RelayHealth's commitment to certify its solution on the SureScripts network will help its physician users improve the safety and efficiency of the prescription process as well as the quality of overall care."
"The goal of this collaboration is safe, cost-effective care — aimed at creating a powerful e-prescribing solution that saves time and money while ensuring the integrity of personal health information," said Giovanni Colella, MD, president and chief executive officer of RelayHealth. "By bringing our respective strengths to bear, SureScripts and RelayHealth are transforming the healthcare experience for consumers, providers, and pharmacists."
About SureScripts
SureScripts®, the largest network provider of electronic prescribing
services, is committed to building relationships within the health care community and working
collaboratively with key industry stakeholders and organizations to improve the safety, efficiency
and quality of health care by improving the overall prescribing process. At the core of this
improvement effort is the SureScripts Electronic Prescribing Network™,
a health care infrastructure which establishes electronic communications between pharmacists
and physicians and enables the two-way electronic exchange of prescription information. Today,
90 percent of all pharmacies in the United States are certified on the SureScripts network.
More information about SureScripts is available at www.surescripts.com.
About RelayHealth Corporation
RelayHealth is the premier provider of secure, online healthcare communication services. The
RelayHealth platform connects patients, clinicians, payers and pharmacies to improve clinical
productivity, create administrative efficiencies, reduce costs and enhance patient satisfaction.
Medical practices can quickly deploy RelayHealth to realize immediate results such as increased
physician productivity and reduced phone volume. With the RelayHealth Interoperability Toolkit,
practices can also integrate RelayHealth with most major commercial or custom electronic
medical record and practice management systems. RelayHealth's robust suite of solutions for
the medical office includes secure messaging featuring the webVisit, and end to end e-prescribing
through eScript. The RelayHealth communications platform also enables care management and
continuity of care through tools such as a Patient Health Record that interoperates with
physician and payer clinical systems. For more information, visit www.relayhealth.com.
