Prescribers’ Use of Electronic Prescribing Inquiry Tools in Puerto Rico | Biomedgrid

Objectives: To evaluate the use of Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing) tools by prescribers generating inquiries to a major Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) in Puerto Rico. A secondary objective is to determine providers' knowledge of E-Prescribing tools. Methods: This is a retrospective study of E-Prescribing pharmacy claims received by PharmPix. The data collected included the use of E-Prescribing tools, which contain eligibility and medication history verification. The secondary objective was completed with a 15-item questionnaire that collected the prescribers' perception of E-Prescribing systems and tools. Results: The 10,670 E-Prescribing pharmacy claims generated for the beneficiaries of some groups managed by PharmPix during the first quarter of 2015 were evaluated. Prescribers completed 1,748 (16%) eligibility requests and 371 (3.48%) medication history verifications for these pharmacy claims. Twenty-two (22) prescribers completed the questionnaire with 77.3% of prescribers reporting that the E-Prescribing system is easy to use, while 82% of prescribers agree that the main reason for implementing this software was due to health insurance regulations. More than half of the prescribers know how to use the eligibility status tool in their E-Prescribing software. However, 66.7% of these prescribers do not use the tool daily. When surveyed about the medical history verification, 81.82% of prescribers reported successful use of this tool, with 66.67% prescribers accessing the tool every time they use the software. Conclusion: This study shows the scarce utilization of E-Prescribing tools and the need for future education interventions for prescribers to successfully use the available E-Prescribing systems.