SureScripts is a company that allows physicians’ offices to send prescriptions to pharmacies electronically. It works with most electronic medical records (EMR) systems, including the EMR our office uses.

A recent article on eWeek.com reviewed SureScrips’ efforts to increase the number of physicians that are sending prescriptions electronically. There are many benefits of avoiding handwritten prescriptions. Legibility and avoiding errors due to poor handwriting is the most obvious benefit. Convenience is another. The article cites more.

Now, physicians using most EMRs can skip that paper-based step because prescriptions will be sent directly from the doctor’s office to the pharmacy. Pharmacies can also send refill requests back to the physician’s office for authorization.

Such connectivity will not just improve convenience, said Hutchinson, it will lead to enhanced care. For example, in February, SureScripts announced a plan to provide patients’ medication history to authorized physicians; this information can help doctors choose the best medication regimen.

Increasingly, doctors are realizing that quality care is based on reliable information, and that information can not be reliably stored or transmitted on paper.