Massachusetts placed first in the nation in electronic prescribing and, along with nine other states, was singled out for recognition in the second annual Safe-Rx Awards program. The honor is given by the nation’s community pharmacies to the top 10 e-prescribing states and to three physicians in each winning state who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their use of e-prescribing technology.

“The Safe-Rx Award is well-deserved recognition for Massachusetts for its leadership in adopting cutting-edge technologies to reduce costs, avoid errors in prescribing drugs and increase efficiency in delivering care,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy. “Information technology is transforming all aspects of our modern society, but few areas are more important than health care. The Safe-Rx Award recognizes the immense benefits of this technology, especially in protecting patient safety.”

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and SureScripts created the Safe-Rx Award to raise awareness of e-prescribing as a more secure, accurate, and informed means of prescribing patients’ medication.

This year’s Safe-Rx Awards followed the landmark Institute of Medicine report in July 2006 -- “Preventing Medication Errors” -- which focused national attention on the causes of and possible remedies for the 1.5 million preventable medication errors that occur in the United States each year.

Massachusetts jumped from third in last year's ranking to first in this year's Top 10, leapfrogging Nevada and Rhode Island. Massachusetts recorded the largest increase in the number of e-prescribers (physicians, nurse practitioners and physicians assistants) in the nation -- a result of multiple, broad based collaborations involving the state's largest payers and health systems.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island lead the nation with just over 20 percent of each state's active prescribers (physicians, nurse practitioners and physicians assistants) e-prescribing. Rhode Island was the first state to begin e-prescribing four years ago and, like Massachusetts, is a model for collaboration between pharmacies, payers, health systems, state government, healthcare quality organizations and healthcare non-profits.

Nevada stayed at number three based on the outstanding efforts of Sierra Health Services (the largest health plan in the state) and Southwest Medical Associates (the largest multi-specialty physician practice in the state). Delaware jumped from sixth to fourth based in part on the efforts of BCBS-DE and the Delaware Health Information.

Michigan tripled its number of active electronic prescribers versus last year, adding more than any other state outside of Massachusetts. Henry Ford Health System and the Health Alliance plan continues to lead the e-prescribing charge in that state

New Jersey's 800 percent increase in electronic prescriptions was the the largest percentage increase of all the Top 10 states and is fueled by strong e-prescribing initiatives from two major payers. Washington jumped from sixteenth to tenth based by doubling the number of e-prescribers in the state.

North Carolina jumped one notch from eight to seven based on the leadership of BCBS-NC (and its "E-Prescribe" initiative, the North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance (NCHICA) and the state medical society. Ohio stayed at ninth; its electronic prescriber base grew by 70 percent, complemented by continued strong support from the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio KEYPro, and a regional initiative around patient safety.

For more details on the ranking criteria and the program, visit www.surescripts.com/saferx.

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