Canada Health Infoway’s PrescribeIT®e-prescribing service enhances medication safety and protects patient privacy.
In Canada, nearly 30 percent of prescriptions are never filled — and high levels of medication non-adherence result in adverse patient events and increased health care system costs.
There’s now an easy way for Ontarians to reduce lost or misplaced prescriptions, which also saves prescribers, pharmacists, and patients time, reduces stolen or fraudulent prescriptions, enhances workflow efficiency, and increases communication and confidence in dispensing while protecting patient safety. It’s called PrescribeIT®, and it’s benefiting the entire health care system.
A new national e-prescribing service
PrescribeIT® is brought to Canadians by Canada Health Infoway, an independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the federal government. It enables prescribers and pharmacists to electronically create, receive, renew, and cancel prescriptions. PrescribeIT® provides safer and more efficient medication management by connecting community-based prescribers (such as physicians and nurse practitioners) to community retail pharmacies, enabling the digital transmission of prescriptions.
With virtual health care steadily increasing across the country, the time is right for PrescribeIT®. Canadians have discovered that virtual care is care — and that while it cannot always replace existing care and in-person visits, it offers another valuable avenue for Canadians. E-prescribing is an important tool for care providers to have in their toolkit, whether for virtual or in-person care visits. Surveys show that 82 percent of Canadians would like to have a prescription sent electronically to their pharmacy by their physician without receiving a paper prescription.
The future is digital and making health care more digital ensures that all Canadians are able to access essential health information and services. Services like PrescribeIT® enable us to move toward a more connected and collaborative health system.
