Electronic Prescribing in Rhode Island

Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) is:

• The electronic entry of a prescription by a clinician (e.g., physician or nurse practitioner);
• The secure electronic transmission of the prescription to a pharmacy;
• The receipt of an electronic message (not a fax) by the pharmacy;
• The electronic approval of prescription renewal requests from pharmacies.

To see if your health care provider e-prescribes, click here . This list will be updated quarterly.

In order to e-prescribe, clinicians need to adopt an Electronic Medical Record with e-prescribing capability or another product that can be used for e-prescribing.

Currently nearly all of retail pharmacies in Rhode Island are capable of accepting electronic prescriptions via networks that provide the systems for routing prescriptions from the practitioner to retail pharmacies.

Under current federal law, some medications cannot be sent by a electronic prescribing system, such as some pain medications, steroids, stimulants, and others.

Both the Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline and the Rhode Island Board of Pharmacy support the adoption of electronic prescribing. It is their position that electronic prescribing can promote the overall quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care. Click here to link to their position statement.

Rhode Island's goals for achieving e-prescribing adoption are:

1. 75% prescriptions (new and renewal) that are eligible to be e-prescribed are completed electronically.
2. 67% of prescribers are using e-prescribing mechanism for new or renewal prescriptions in the last 90 days.
3. 100% of pharmacies are capable of accepting electronic prescriptions

Recognitions and Awards

May, 2006: The State of Rhode Island receives the SafeRx Award - #1 e-prescribing state in the country. Honorary awards also granted to Laura Adams, President and CEO of the Rhode Island Quality Institute, and Dr. Yul Ejnes. The following physicians are also recognized with a SafeRx Award: Drs. Conrad Granito (Pawtucket), Christine Rayner (Cranston) and Diane Siedlecki (Providence). For more information, click here.

February, 2007: SafeRx Award - #2 e-prescribing state in the country. The following physicians are also recognized with a SafeRx Award: Drs. Ralph Earp, David Gorelick, and Jayanthi Parameswaran, all of Newport. For more information, click here.