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RxHub today praised the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) for commissioning a study on the cost and benefits of electronic prescriptions.

The study revealed that adoption of ePrescribing could save the federal government $29 billion and prevent 2 million medication errors over the next 10 years if doctors were required to use the technology in caring for Medicare patients.

Currently, less than 10 percent of physicians are estimated to be using electronic prescribing which keeps patients, providers and taxpayers from seeing the benefits and cost savings of ePrescribing.

"This study further substantiates the necessity to provide physicians with immediate access to patient medication histories, preferred drug options, and pharmacy choices so that they can better counsel patients on safe and affordable choices before prescriptions are electronically transmitted to the pharmacy," stated JP Little, Chief Operating Officer for RxHub.

"The study indicated that approximately 70% of the safety and savings advantages of ePrescribing result from this information being provided to the physician at the point of care."

RxHub has access to medication-related information for 160 million patients in the U.S. Access to this information is for authorized physicians and is only available from patients who have given consent.

"The growth in ePrescribing transactions through RxHub is due to the early adopters of ePrescribing technology," noted COO Little. "RxHub is ready to facilitate and process an increased volume of ePrescribing transactions nationwide."