opinion: nationwide digital prescription service could unlock millions in funds for healthcare in canada
extensive scoping reviews by canada health infoway show that at full scale, the national implementation of e-prescribing alone represents an estimated $500 million (cad) in savings annually that could then be reinvested in the healthcare system.
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every year in canada, well over 250 million new and renewed prescriptions are issued by prescribers to patients, and many of those are paper.
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what could we do for our healthcare system in canada with $500 million per year? health care in canada is facing many challenges — physician shortages, overcrowded emergency departments and staff burnout, to name a few — each as important as the next. every jurisdiction has different needs and a different view of what is most pressing, which makes it difficult to determine what to prioritize.
in addition to these competing challenges, canada has lagged in comparison to many of our g7 counterparts in the widescale adoption of digital health tools like e-prescribing, which would help ease the administrative burden within the healthcare system. in fact, extensive scoping reviews by canada health infoway show that at full scale, the national implementation of e-prescribing alone represents an estimated $500 million (cad) in savings annually that could then be reinvested in the healthcare system.
while novel in canada, e-prescribing has been commonplace for almost a decade in countries such as portugal, finland, sweden, denmark, the u.k. and the u.s., among others. these countries have provided a valuable model for the development and implementation of prescribeit, a national e-prescribing service in canada, but we still have a ways to go to catch up and achieve nationwide adoption.
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every year in canada, well over 250 million new and renewed prescriptions are issued by prescribers to patients, and many of those are paper. prescribeit, an initiative from canada health infoway in partnership with the canadian government, provinces and territories, and industry stakeholders, integrates into the backend of systems already in use by prescribers and community retail pharmacies, creating a secure connection that enables the digital transmission of prescriptions for safer and more efficient medication management. the system’s integrated messaging tool also creates a direct line of communication, enabling members of the patient’s care team to send secure clinical communication to each other. this allows pharmacists and prescribers to quickly address queries or clarifications, ensuring they can provide the best care for their patients without delay.
the primary benefits can be seen in three key areas: reduced prescription drug misuse, improved patient adherence to medication, and fewer medication errors that lead to physician or emergency room visits and hospitalization — all laddering up to better health outcomes for canadians. the benefits in these three areas alone represent the potential for hundreds of millions in annual savings. at the same time, we’re able to capture and securely share more detailed health data, which goes hand in hand with practicing better medicine. if you’re thinking about digitizing the system and digitizing data, tackling one of the biggest buckets of information, such as medications, is a great place to start.
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since the first jurisdiction went live in 2017, canada has made tremendous progress to become one of the fastest-growing countries in the national deployment of e-prescribing, rolling out prescribeit in seven provinces, with the eighth going live by the end of this year. but compared to our g7 counterparts, many of which leveraged legislative policies to encourage and, in some cases, mandate the transition to e-prescribing, there are ample opportunities for continued growth in the uptake of e-prescribing in canada. the benefits are clear: beyond the substantial potential savings in health care costs, a recent review found that seven in 10 prescribers say that prescribeit has increased their prescribing efficiency and 81 per cent of prescribers have seen improvements in their clinical workflow.
more than 14,000 prescribers and 7,000 pharmacies are currently enrolled in prescribeit across canada, but to get the job done we need commitment at all levels of government. while $500 million won’t solve our health-care crisis, it will certainly allow us to make a sizable dent and we can’t afford to continue leaving that opportunity on the table.
jamie bruce is the executive vice president of prescribeit at canada health infoway, an independent, government-funded, not-for-profit working to develop canada’s digital health ecosystem. under his leadership, infoway is scaling and expanding canada’s national e-prescribing service across the country.
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