E-Prescribing Growth To Pop As Penalties Approach

E-prescription adoption will grow in 2013, but challenges persist in connectivity, funding and state regulations, says Black Book study.

Black Book Market Research's 2013 ranking of e-prescribing systems predicts substantial growth in 2013, propelled by federal government and commercial health insurance. The use of e-prescribing has grown from 6% of physicians using these systems in 2007 to 65% in 2012, and, as penalties approach, Black Book estimates more physicians will jump on the e-prescribing bandwagon to earn incentive money and achieve Meaningful Use.

"There seems to be an onslaught of clinicians trying to get implementation done in time for Meaningful Use," said Doug Brown, managing partner at Black Book, in an interview with InformationWeek Healthcare. "People were stretched thin with everything, dissatisfaction was there, and some couldn't get a system implemented. According to what we can tell from surveying users, they're spending time looking at vendors because they're having trepidation of not meeting Meaningful Use."