Electronic prescribing takes a hit in the wake of natural disasters such as hurricanes. However, these healthcare practices tend to bounce back fairly quickly, provided the affected regions' have sound technical infrastructure, according to a recent Health Affairs study.
For the study, a team of researchers from Surescripts analyzed the company's e-prescribing data in areas affected by the three recent hurricanes storms — Harvey, Irma and Maria — from Aug. 7, 2017, to May 17, 2018. The team specifically looked at the number of e-prescriptions and requests for medication histories by pharmacies, emergency departments and other providers before, during and after the storms.
Five study findings:
1. Before Hurricane Harvey hit Houston Aug. 25, 2017, providers in the area averaged 63,200 e-prescription transactions per day. Immediately following the storm, transactions dipped to 8,000, but after nine business days, transaction levels were back up to 64,300.
2. In Florida, the researchers sampled six major cities and found the average daily number of transactions before Irma made landfall Sept. 10, 2017, was around 121,700. Immediately following the storm, the average fell 95 percent, but by Sept. 25, 2017, transaction levels were back up to 123,000 per day.
3. This trend was not true for Puerto Rico. Before Maria made landfall Sept. 20, 2017, the average daily number of e-prescription transactions was 56,500. It took at least eight months for levels to return to near normal levels of 51,600 per day.
4. The researchers added that e-prescription transactions in Puerto Rico were still affected by Irma, despite the fact the hurricane missed the island. Before Irma made landfall on Florida, daily e-prescriptions fell in Puerto Rico to approximately 1,500 on Sept. 6, and dropped to just 560 transactions the next day.
5. In an interview with Reuters about the study, Jaime Smith, statistician at Surescripts, said "infrastructure difficulties" were likely to blame. In Puerto Rico, the island experienced sporadic electricity outages for eight months following the storm, while technical infrastructure in Texas and Florida bounced back much quicker.
"Within 10 days of Hurricane Harvey's landfall, power was restored to more than 80 percent of the 300,000 Texans who were without power during the storm. More than 98 percent of the 6 million Floridians affected by Hurricane Irma had their power restored 10 days after that storm's landfall," Ms. Smith said.
To access the Health Affairs study, click here.