As practice management technology advances with leaps and bounds, practitioners of all disciplines are adjusting. The transition to electronic prescriptions is just one example of this shift. As a dermatologist or an EHR serving dermatology practitioners, there are a few key functionalities you should look for when evaluating your current or prospective e-prescribe vendors.  

Decision Making Guidance

There’s a lot to keep in mind when making a prescribing decision. Thankfully, there’s just as much your e-prescribe solution can do to help. Drug review not only helps you decide which course of treatment will best combat your patient’s ailments, it will rule out medications your patient may react adversely to or that come in a form not conducive to their lifestyle. Access to up-to-date benefit information and formulary checking also helps you prescribe covered and affordable treatments. The numerous tools within an e-prescribe software can help you preempt many of the possible problems that could cause a hold up at the pharmacy counter.

E-Prescribe Helps Eliminate Prescription Errors

Speaking of the pharmacy counter, one of the most straightforward benefits of e-prescribe technology for dermatology is that the tool eliminates prescription errors. When you specialize in dermatology, getting your patient the correct prescription is critical, especially when a patient is already uncomfortable. “Old-school” paper prescriptions can be easily lost or misinterpreted, but electronic prescriptions are far more accurate.

It’s worth asking e-prescribe vendors to speak to the accuracy of their prescriptions. For example, NewCropRx was the 2020 Surescripts White Coat Award winner for prescription accuracy. Electronic prescribing tools are built with fail safes to minimize error and keep your patients comfortable. This also ensures the credibility of the prescription as well. Bringing us to our next point.

The Opioid Crisis and Controlled Substances

As a dermatologist or other medical institution like an EHR, or even as someone who’s ever experienced a condition requiring treatment by a dermatologist, you know that there’s a lot of pain and discomfort associated with skin, hair, nails, etc. It may not be an everyday part of your practice, but the prescribing of opioids and narcotics for pain relief, especially post-op, will likely be necessary at some point.

With the opioid crisis in full swing, however, treating a patient with controlled substances requires meeting rigorous compliance standards for the interest of public health. This is where e-prescribe software can help. With a reliable and certified Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS) module, you can treat patients with controlled medication while knowing your prescriptions are intact and properly dispensed, and your practice is remaining compliant. Nobody can alter the prescription for other purposes.

In fact, EPCS and e-prescribe are so fundamental to combatting the opioid crisis that the DEA is ramping up the EPCS requirements for prescribers of controlled substances. Soon it will be mandatory in all states to prescribe these medications electronically. (Check to see what’s required in your state.)

Patient Comfort and Convenience

Medical institutions across disciplines are learning to adjust to virtual care in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Even after social distancing measures have dissipated, it’s likely much longer until the concern in the minds of patients is gone for good. All that to say, virtual treatment and minimal contact are here to stay. Adding e-prescribe directly to your practice management tools or working with a vendor get this functionality integrated into your EHR will be a large part of completing your virtual care offering.

Plus, a patient with an embarrassing or uncomfortable condition likely wants to spend as little time as possible dealing with wandering eyes in public. And, when patients are comfortable and content, so are practitioners.

Efficiency and Profitability

When your prescribing process is running smoothly, so does your practice. That means less time spent sorting out issues with pharmacies and insurance companies, less time fixing denied claims, less time rectifying treatment after an incorrect prescription was dispensed. For practitioners, you’ll have more time to spend caring for patients and other areas of your practice. As an EHR vendor, adding e-prescribe can make your value proposition all the more appealing to clinics and practitioners. Increased efficiency equals increased profitability.

Next Steps

Regardless of the role you play in dermatology – a doctor, group of practices, or a software vendor – you should always be evaluating your e-prescribe tools to make sure you’ve found the best fit for your specialty.

If you’re interested in onboarding e-prescribe technology for the first time, now is a great time to start the vetting process, especially with incoming DEA regulations.

To learn more about how NewCropRx suits the specific needs of dermatologists and to schedule a free live demo, contact us today. A team member will be glad to help you evaluate what’s best for you.