Process Implications of E-prescribing Information Integration Models: United States versus a Middle East Approach

E-prescribing automates the manual prescription process which enables physicians, pharmacies and payers to gain access to information that contributes to patient safety, controlling costs, and gaining business intelligence. In this article, the information flow of the leading e-prescribing approaches in the United States (US) is compared with an e-prescribing system under development in a Middle East country. The focus is on the implication of process changes (e.g., shift in roles) and the secondary use of information that results from the integration of the prescription information chain. The comparison highlights differences in implementation that will impact the adoption of e-prescribing in the US. For example, the US approach requires a physician to specify where the e-prescription is to be sent, which in the past was solely a patient decision. In contrast, the approach by the Middle East company is for a cyber-mediary to hold the e-prescription until retrieved by the pharmacy a patient chooses.