Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and Availity, LLC today announced the deployment of CarePrescribe, an electronic prescribing service, at no charge to eligible physician practices in Kentucky. Following the successful introduction of Availity CarePrescribe in Florida and Texas - where approximately 2,000 physicians are using the system - Kentucky physicians now have access to the free service as a valuable tool in improving efficiency, safety and quality, while reducing patient costs.
“Availity is committed to making e-prescribing a success, improving patient care and enhancing overall efficiency in our health care delivery system”
Designed to ensure greater patient safety, savings and convenience, Availity CarePrescribe allows Kentucky physicians to view information that will help them select the most clinically appropriate and cost-effective medications, access a patient's network pharmacy list, and then transmit prescriptions electronically to the patient's retail or mail-order pharmacies of choice.
The service also offers physicians real-time access to patients' medication history, drug and allergy interaction checks, and benefit eligibility, formulary and copayment information.
CarePrescribe is just one of the industry-leading tools offered by Humana Pharmacy Solutions to enhance members' pharmacy benefit experience.
"We're going to continue driving the adoption of e-prescribing technology because there is a tremendous opportunity to reduce medication errors, improve medication adherence, and impact overall costs," said William Fleming, vice president of Humana Pharmacy Solutions. "We're also improving generic drug usage and formulary compliance as well as service at the point of care by having more informed doctors and members. And most importantly, this technology is helping provide a simpler, more positive experience for health care consumers."
CarePrescribe is a Medicare-qualified e-prescribing service, meaning physicians prescribing electronically via means such as CarePrescribe are able to receive incentives from the federal Medicare program through 2013.
"Availity is committed to making e-prescribing a success, improving patient care and enhancing overall efficiency in our health care delivery system," said Julie Klapstein, Availity's chief executive officer. "We're able to simplify this process for Kentucky prescribers by delivering a comprehensive, fully managed solution that offers everything they need to enable fully informed e-prescribing without the costly investment. When combined with Availity's other services, like electronic health records and health insurance information, CarePrescribe provides an improved overall experience for physicians and patients alike."
For eligible Kentucky prescribers with high Humana script volume, the CarePrescribe service will include a mobile handheld device that is custom-installed and configured to work with the practice's patient scheduling system. The handheld devices work in tandem with a desktop e-prescribing solution, already available to all practices in Kentucky currently using the Availity Web portal. Deployment of the handheld device to eligible physicians throughout Kentucky is in progress. The handheld device has specific utilization requirements to remain a no-cost solution.
"CarePrescribe solves many of the inefficiencies of prescribing while promoting quality," said Dr. Bryan Loy, market medical officer for Humana's Kentucky market. "We are delighted to be a part of this initiative that partners with doctors and provides them with this valuable tool at no charge."
CarePrescribe can be used for both Medicare and commercial Humana members. It can also be used for the physicians' non-Humana patients so the physicians can write all of their prescriptions from one comprehensive e-prescribing system.
The CarePrescribe technology is powered by Prematics, a care-communication company serving the health plan industry. Prematics will provide all installation, training and ongoing support on behalf of Humana and Availity at no charge to eligible practices.
Squid-inspired technology could replace needles for medications and vaccines