WASHINGTON — The drugstore and pharmacy benefit management industries today will announce a combination of their information systems to boost electronic prescribing by physicians.
The merger combines the RxHub network, operated by CVS/Caremark Corp., Express Scripts Inc. and MedcoHealth Solutions Inc., with SureScripts, which is run by the drugstore industry's two main trade groups.
Executives for the two industries said the transaction, which closed Monday, would make electronic prescribing more convenient and efficient for physicians and could encourage those who are less computer savvy to take part.
"This merger sets aside historic economic and political differences to do what is necessary to advance paperless prescribing and the secure exchange of critical information," said John Driscoll, president for new markets with MedcoHealth Solutions.
The effort comes as Washington politicians, as well as the corporate executives, ramp up efforts to encourage electronic prescribing, which takes the place of handwritten notes.
The technology has been touted as a way to avoid medication errors and reduce health-care costs, but has not been embraced by many doctors.
Younger doctors, who shop and socialize online, already use the technology in medical school, but many older physicians have yet to embrace it, arguing that the upfront cost of going paperless falls on their shoulders, while the immediate savings go to pharmacy benefits managers that are paid to keep prescription costs low.
Only about 2 percent of all medicines dispensed last year were prescribed electronically, according to SureScripts.
Proponents say the merger will lower the risk that patients will be prescribed medications that might interact badly with other drugs, because doctors and pharmacists would have easier and more complete access to a person's medical history.
"It will probably bring some efficiencies at the pharmacy counter," said Dr. Sal Giorgianni, an assistant professor with Belmont University's new pharmacy school. The merger could reduce paperwork and help patients get medicines more quickly
at the pharmacy counter, he said.
In Tennessee, efforts to increase the number of doctors who e-prescribe have included grants to improve the speed and security of access to the Internet.
Still, the most recent update by the Governor's e-Health Council shows that only 1.1 percent of eligible prescriptions in the state were transmitted electronically last year.
Industries have clashedRxHub and SureScripts were founded separately in 2001. RxHub stores data on more than 200 million insured patients and provides physicians with information on which medicines are covered by their insurance.
SureScripts is an electronic exchange that lets doctors see patients' medication history and send prescriptions to pharmacies nationwide.
The new company is a novel combination because pharmacy benefit managers and retail pharmacies have traditionally been competitors, said Dr. John Halamka, chief information officer at Harvard Medical School.
Whereas pharmacy benefit managers often encourage patients to order prescriptions through the mail, retailers do their business by dispensing medications directly to patients.
"By coming together like this I think they realized they could reduce costs for everyone," Halamka said. "If you get more electronic prescribing then there is less paper, less manual costs … everyone wins."
The combined company, named SureScripts-RxHub, will be managed by a six-person board of directors, which includes executives from Walgreen Co., CVS/Caremark and Express Scripts, among others.
Under the deal, SureScripts and RxHub each retain a 50 percent share of the company, which will not be publicly traded.
Congress is expected to approve a Medicare bill in coming weeks that will include incentives and penalties to encourage doctors to prescribe electronically.
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