Medco Launches Medicare Part D Initiative to Promote eP...( Medco's Medicare Plan is first PDP...),Health

Medco's Medicare Plan is first PDP to conduct ePrescribing Pilot Study

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As Congress considers a bill that would tie physicians' Medicare payments to their use of ePrescribing technology, Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) today announced the launch of a national initiative to assist physicians of Medicare Part D patients in switching from hand-written to electronically generated prescriptions. The pilot program will also be used to study the impact of ePrescribing on patient safety, increased generic drug use and formulary compliance on the Medicare population.

"There is strong evidence that ePrescribing reduces medication errors and increases the use of generic drugs and other lower-cost medication options. We are proud that Medco will be the first Medicare prescription drug plan (PDP) to research its impact on the Medicare population," said John Driscoll, president of new markets at Medco. "The program is designed to overcome the cost barriers that have prevented widespread physician adoption of this technology and to verify the benefits of ePrescribing for Medicare Part D beneficiaries."

Initially the study will include 500 physicians currently treating enrollees in the Medco Medicare Prescription Plan(TM). Medco -- working with RxNT, a leading provider of ePrescribing technology - will provide these physicians with free RxNT ePrescribing software and training. Over a six- month period, the physicians' rate of generic drug dispensing, formulary compliance and generated safety alerts will be compared to a control group of 500 doctors who did not receive ePrescribing software or training. Ultimately, 2,000 doctors, primarily general practitioners and internis
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