ALEXANDRIA, VA – In a move expected to give a major boost to the interconnectivity needed to accelerate the adoption of electronic prescribing, the two networks formed to support electronic prescribing will merge into one network.
The merger, completed on June 30, will bring together St. Paul, Minn.-based RxHub and Alexandria, Va.-based SureScripts.
RxHub was founded in 2001 by the nation's three largest pharmacy benefits managers, CVS Caremark Corp., Express Scripts, Inc. and Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Surescripts was formed that same year by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association.
Penetration of electronic prescribing has been slowly building since the formation of the networks, but adoption rates remain low. Testimony at a meeting of the American Health Information Community late last year pegged electronic prescribing adoption rates at less than 20 percent, and government initiatives announced this year are aimed at nudging physicians to stop using paper prescription pads.
In 2008, the combined organization expects to transmit 100 million electronic prescription transactions and respond to more than 70 million requests by physicians confirming information about patients’ drug coverages and medication histories. By contrast, there are an estimated 4 billion prescriptions written anually in the United States.
“I can think of 4 billion reasons why this merger makes sense,” said John Driscoll, president of new markets for Medco Health Solutions, Inc. “This merger sets aside historic economic and political differences to do what is necessary to advance paperless prescribing and the secure exchange of critical information between providers – instantly elevating the quality of care.”
The networks bring different strengths to the combination. Executives say their expertise is in patient identification and delivering drug benefit information to the physician at the point of care. SureScripts' strengths include routing electronic prescriptions from the physicians' office to the pharmacy.
The organizations have a stated goal of providing more access to patient medication histories and form a single suite of comprehensive services.
“This merger represents a collaboration between industries that are equally committed to improving healthcare,” said Bruce Roberts, executive vice president and CEO of the NCPA. “The combined strengths of the two organizations will enable the delivery of a single suite of services that will dramatically improve the safety, efficiency and quality of one of the largest segments in healthcare.”
The cashless transaction will enable SureScripts' owners and RxHub's owners to each retain 50 percent ownership in the combined organization.