Submitted by Eileen Haggerty, NetScout Director of Product Marketing
We have periodically in the Performance Zone Blog talked about some of the dramatic changes the Modern IP Network has had in the way ordinary people do things in new ways – most recently, the way the Obama Presidential Campaign leveraged smart devices, Web 2.0 social networking, and the Internet in his path to the Presidency.
Yesterday morning, I caught yet another example how times change – and how modern network technology is evolving to provide better, safer, and more cost effective services
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It was announced yesterday morning that Medicare is going to “incent” doctors to retire their paper prescription pads and submit e-prescriptions for their patients’ drug therapy directly to the pharmacy that will fill them. Medicare will give physicians an extra two to three percent bonus pay in 2009 and 2010 if they switch to emailing prescriptions.
E-prescriptions have tremendous value:
- Accuracy – notoriously bad handwriting is often blamed for mistakes in both filling prescriptions and the corresponding instructions on how to use them.
- Safety – removes problems associated with lost or stolen paper prescriptions.
- Cost efficiencies – when the doctor pulls up the information to order the prescription, lower cost, generic alternatives are offered to save the patient money.
While adoption has been low so far with only ten percent of doctors using e-prescriptions, the trend is on an upswing. According to e-prescription network provider SureScripts – RxHub, the number of physicians writing e-prescriptions is expected to double to 70,000 this year over 2007.
I am always curious to understand the barriers to entry for new, and more effective manners to do business over the Modern IP Network – and in this case, cost plays some part, with individual doctor’s needing to spend $3,000 each to participate in electronic prescription programs. It is hoped that the Medicare incentive can help offset that burden. Additionally, as the Drug Enforcement Administration adapts the rules surrounding e-prescriptions for narcotic painkillers and other controlled substances, even more doctors are likely to leverage these Modern IP Network advancements.
As the adoption of this technology continues to expand, hospitals, health network organizations, and life sciences companies each have yet another reason to protect the delivery of e-prescriptions services across their network. NetScout Systems offers the nGenius and Sniffer solutions to help provide the kind of predictive early warnings with real-time and historical trends and reports for assuring prompt and efficient services delivery.
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