Research And Markets: Are Electronic Prescriptions The Way Forward?

Research and Markets (researchandmarkets.com/reports/c11190) has announced the addition of Electronic Prescribing: Maintaining Leverage in the Future Prescribing Process to their offering.

(PRWEB) December 17, 2004 -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c11190) has announced the addition of Electronic Prescribing: Maintaining Leverage in the Future Prescribing Process to their offering.

Long-standing conflicts of interest among stakeholders in ePrescribing and the recent introduction of prohibitive legislation have limited the use of ePrescribing technologies as a marketing platform. Regardless, pharmaceutical companies should encourage the development of ePrescribing services and help physicians adopt the technology by providing support for pilot programs.

The scope of this report is as follows:
- Analysis of physicians opinions on the adoption of ePrescribing technologies, based on the results of our 2004 Physician Insight Survey
- Examination of the growing importance of targeting not only physicians, but also patients and healthcare payers with relevant marketing messages
- Recommendations on how pharmaceutical companies can best prepare for upcoming changes in the prescribing process
- Identification of ways in which the pharmaceutical industry can play a role in designing and implementing ePrescribing programs in the US

The highlight of this report is as follows:

- Central payer healthcare systems, such as that in the UK, have a distinct advantage over privatized healthcare systems, such as that in the US, with respect to the nationwide adoption of a new technology. Central payer systems have the benefit of operating according to already established minimum technology standards.

- Pharmaceutical companies should re-evaluate how they distribute their sales and marketing budgets. The current system, which is focused on targeting physicians, will not produce the ROI needed to make up for the loss of influence during the prescribing process to formulary lists that can be accessed in real-time through ePrescribing technologies.

- Our findings suggest that the perceived benefits of adopting electronic prescribing technologies differ considerably among surveyed physicians. On the other hand, a strong consensus as to what concerns physicians most about ePrescribing was observed.

Reasons to Purchase this report:
- Understand how the UK ePrescribing pilots are shaping adoption of ePrescribing technologies in both the European and the US markets
- Recognize how the standards adopted according to the Medicare Modernization Act will provide precedence for future ePrescribing regulations
- Change the focus of sales and marketing strategies to compensate for the loss of influence to real-time formulary list access at the point-of-care

The contents of this report are as follows:
ACTION POINTS 6
Outline of the brief 6
Key things you need to know about electronic prescribing 6

Further evaluation of the UKs electronic transmission of prescription pilots is needed before a common model and national operating standards for ePrescribing in the UK can be fully defined 7

Voluntary adoption of electronic prescribing continues to be a barrier to widespread implementation of electronic prescribing technologies among physicians in the US. Failure to mandate nationwide adoption of a common ePrescribing platform creates inconsistencies among technologies in use, and provides little incentive for physicians to invest in the process changes necessary to achieve adoption in the near future 7

Rather than focus on reaching physicians at-the-point of care through ePrescribing platforms, pharmaceutical companies should invest in marketing strategies that optimize consumer choice and highlight the safety and efficacy of their drugs 9

Introduction 10
The traditional prescribing model and its limitations 12
The number of mistakes made in the paper-based prescribing process is too high 14
The paper-based prescribing process is too slow 17
The paper-based prescribing process is too complex 19
The evolution of ePrescribing solutions 26
Benefits of adopting electronic prescribing technologies 27
Challenges to the adoption of electronic prescribing technologies 28
Driving the adoption of ePrescribing in the US and European markets 30
Early adopters of electronic prescribing -- lessons learned from the UK pilots 33
Electronic prescribing in the rest of Europe 39
Adopting electronic prescribing in a privatized healthcare system-- challenges in the US market 40
Stakeholders in the adoption of electronic prescribing 45
Beyond improving patient safety, stakeholders are primarily concerned with either reducing the cost or increasing the speed of the current prescribing process 45
The impact of electronic prescribing technology on the pharmaceutical industry 47
THE FUTURE DECODED 49
Outlook for the electronic prescribing market 49
Current use of electronic prescribing technologies 49
End-user impact on electronic prescribing adoption 51
Opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to play a role in the adoption of electronic prescribing in the US and Europe 53
Barriers to using ePrescribing technologies as a marketing tool 53
Partnering with electronic prescribing technology vendors 54
Re-evaluating sales and marketing goals 54
Conclusion 56
APPENDIX 57
List of figures 57
References 58
Relevant links 58
Research methodology 59
Consumer Insight Survey 2004 59
Physician Insight Survey 2004 59
How to contact experts in your industry 61

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c11190

Laura Wood
Senior Manager
Research and Markets
press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax: +353 1 4100 980

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