PROVIDENCE – Gov. Donald L. Carcieri today accepted a 2007 Safe-Rx Award on behalf of Rhode Island, which the contest ranked second nationwide in electronic prescribing. This year’s top spot went to Massachusetts.
The Safe-Rx Award is given annually by the nation’s community pharmacies to the top 10 e-prescribing states in the nation and the three physicians in each of the winning states who have demonstrated outstanding leadership through their use of e-prescribing technology.
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The program was established by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and SureScripts.com, which the NACDS and NCPA founded in 2001 to operate their Pharmacy Health Information Exchange. Last year, Rhode Island was ranked No. 1 in the awards program.
“I am proud that Rhode Island is a leader in electronic prescribing,” Carcieri said in accepting this year’s award. “We are making great strides in transforming health care in our state, and this technology is another step towards achieving my vision of anytime, anywhere health information for all Rhode Islanders. Through electronic prescribing, we are improving patient safety, creating greater efficiencies within the health care system, and reducing costs.”
The governor then joined with pharmacy leaders in recognizing the three Rhode Island physicians – Dr. David Gorelick, Dr. Jayanthi Parameswaran and Dr. Ralph Earp, all of Aquidneck Medical Associates in Newport – who received the state’s individual Safe-Rx Awards.
“This award is a great recognition of the public and private partnerships that have been formed in Rhode Island to work on this important issue,” said Newell, R.Ph., chief operating officer of Quality Partners of Rhode Island. “The partnerships, tools, and standards established during the adoption of e-prescribing will be a good foundation for the broader integration of health information technology in other related areas, such as long-term care and home health.”
“Electronic prescribing saves time for health care providers and eliminates illegible handwriting and other safety risks for patients,” said Dr. David R. Gifford, the state health director. “Working together, the Rhode Island community will continue to promote electronic prescribing as a tool to increase health care quality.”
Additional information on the SafeRx awards, including historical rankings, is available at www.SureScripts.com/SafeRx. Information on e-prescribing can be found at www.GetRxConnected.com.
