Let’s say that you have your own EHR for telemedicine and have your own scheduling software. You even have your own billing software or bill through PayPal. How do you handle e-prescribing?
You could just call the pharmacy or even fax each prescription to the pharmacy. But that’s quite clunky.
E-prescribing is great because your prescription is digitally sent to all of the participating pharmacies. Which means that you need an e-prescribing platform which is well integrated.
E-Prescribing
In almost all states you can send nearly any medication to the pharmacy for e-prescribing. This includes controlled substances.
What makes e-prescribing easy is that it will tell you all of the common dosing regimens and it will have prepopulated prescriptions.
You can create favorite lists and it can integrate into your favorite EHR. But, of course, not all of the options out there will allow for this.
Cost of Standalone Services
You’re looking at about $20-40 per month for an e-prescribing service.
If you pay the whole sum for the year then you also get a discount. That’s how most of these companies are doing it for now.
I didn’t find any company that sells you the software outright. So, for most you have to pay the monthly fee.
EPCS
When shopping for your standalone e-prescribing software, you’ll come across EPCS a lot.
EPCS stands for Controlled Substance E-Prescribing (EPCS). It’s usually a premium service which might mean that you’ll pay $40 instead of $20 per month.
e-PA
Electronic prior authorization is another option that some of the e-prescribing services have. It’s a fucking nightmare, as I’m experiencing here in this FQHC clinic that I’m working at.
But, if you have this kind of practice with an insurance payer, it might be worth it to invest in a good PA program.
#1. Ayva
The first such e-prescribing platform is Ayva. It’s about $20-40/month.
You can find them at Ayva from Bravado Health. Their prices are listed on their site.
#2. AdvancedMD
No prices listed. But they offer e-prescribing and a separate EHR which can be, of course, integrated with their e-prescribing.
I’m not a fan of companies that don’t list their prices – buyer beware.
#3. DrFirst
No idea what their pricing is. But they can handle e-PA and e-prescribing.
You can find everything Dr First has to offer for practice management solutions. They seem to be a popular company but, again, no pricing listed.
#4. SureScripts
I don’t know what their pricing is, either. But SureScripts is another popular e-prescribing software which integrates into your EMR or you can use it as a standalone platform, from what I understand.
#5. MDToolbox
MDToolbox costs about $30-40/month and offers e-PA and EPCS as well.
They seem to be popular as well and I’ve seen a few telemedicine companies integrating their services into their EHR.
#6. RXNT
For $650/year RXNT gives you full electronic prescribing solutions. Not a bad deal. And they are very transparent about their pricing.
They also offer EMR software for $65-150/month.