As part of its recognizing physician excellence program, the insurer is to provide financial incentives to providers who adopt health information technologies such as electronic medical records and e-prescribing.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Florida (BCBSF) will provide physicians with up-to-date information about drugs, drug interactions, alternative medicines, health insurance formularies and drug pricing, through mobile and online drug reference guide Epocrates.
It is estimated that 3.3 million adverse drug events occur each year, said Dr William Kerr, vice president and chief medical officer at BCBSF. This can be significantly reduced by accessing online drug reference information and reviewing patient medication history to identify drug-to-drug interactions.
According to BCBSF, studies have shown that medication errors alone account for 7,000 deaths and harm 1.5 million patients per year and that e-prescribing can significantly improve the quality and affordability of healthcare. As part of a collaborative effort to accelerate the adoption of e-prescribing, BCBSF has established a new organization called ePrescribe Florida.
BCBSF said that it is initiating the outreach program with national commercial payers and will continue to expand the effort by engaging regional health plans, physicians, providers and other public and private organizations.
