EHR's Powers Of Suggestion Dictating Drug Prescriptions
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
A study out of Pennsylvania shows physicians are more likely to choose cheaper prescription drugs when the EHR system lists generics first.
Generic drugs are chosen more often if the prescriber’s EHR lists them first as a default, according to a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. The study’s authors suggest simply programming EHRs to suggest more affordable medications first could be an easy way to curb healthcare spending.
“Prescribing brand-name medications that have a generic equivalent is a prime example of unnecessary healthcare spending because in most cases, generic medications are less expensive, similar in quality and may actually lead to better outcomes than brand names because of higher rates of patient adherence to generics,” wrote lead study author Mitesh S. Patel, MD, MBA, MS, assistant professor of Medicine and Health Care Management at Penn. “The results of this study demonstrate that leveraging default options can be very effective way to change behavior.”
EHR Intelligence reports that, during the study, family doctors were given a choice between generic and brand-name drugs when prescribing through the EHR. When the EHR listed the generic prescription choice first, it led to a 5.4 percent increase in generic prescription rates.
“Not only was changing the default options within the EHR medication prescriber effective at increasing generic medication prescribing, this simple intervention was cost-free and required no additional effort on the part of the physician,” added Patel. “The lessons from this study can be applied to other clinical decision efforts to reduce unnecessary health care spending and improve value for patients.”
This could be an easily implemented way to cut healthcare spending; e-prescribing has increased dramatically in the last few years. Health IT Outcomes reports that the number of physicians who use e-prescribing jumped from 7 percent in 2008 to 54 percent in 2012. Ninety-four percent of pharmacies accept e-prescriptions.