United Press International (Apr 16, 11:05 AM) Drug prescriptions by e-mail could cut the United State's spiraling health-care costs by $29 billion a year, health researchers say.
The Washington non-profit group eHealth Initiative said a nationwide e-prescription system could minimize confusion caused by hard-to-read handwritten prescriptions, preventing serious errors in doses and drug combinations, according to the Wall Street Journal.
About $2 billion in savings would come from reduced hospital and doctor visits due to fewer prescribing errors, according to the Center for Information Technology Leadership, a research organization in Wellesley, Mass., that contributed to the report.
About $27 billion a year could be saved from fewer medication errors, because an electronic system would curb duplication and would also immediately inform doctors of cheaper generics alternatives.
There were 3.7 billion prescriptions issued last year in the United States. Researchers told of 8.8 million instances of serious illness from drug errors, more than three million of which were preventable.
