Healthcare providers who use electronic prescriptions for at least 50 percent of prescriptions tend to have lower rates of adverse drug events among diabetic patients in ambulatory settings, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Researchers analyzed Medicare claims data from 2011 to identify if providers who prescribe at least half of their prescriptions electronically for diabetic patients experienced lower rates of adverse events.
They found 5 percent of high e-prescribers had at least one patient who experienced an adverse drug event, while 6.5 percent of low e-prescribers had at least one patient who experienced an adverse drug event.
The study also indicates patients who received electronic prescriptions were less likely to be low-income, black or Hispanic and had lower comorbidity scores.
"In summary, e-prescribing to Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes is associated with reduced risk of hospital or ED visits for hypoglycemia or ADEs related to antidiabetic medications but many traditionally disadvantaged populations are less likely to receive prescriptions from a clinician who frequently e-prescribes," researchers concluded. "As more clinicians shift toward e-prescribing in the ambulatory environment, further evaluation should explore whether there are disparities by patient race and income in both access to e-prescribing providers and risk of ADEs."
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