Providers wrote 77.33 million e-prescriptions for controlled substances in 2017 — up from 12.8 million in 2015 , which represents a 504 percent increase, according to Surescripts' 2017 National Progress Report published May 7.
Surescripts is a health information network that markets an e-prescribing solution.
Here are eight report findings.
1. 2017 saw 1.74 billion e-prescriptions, which represents a 26 percent increase from one year prior.
2. Of those e-prescriptions, 77.33 million were for controlled substances, which includes 26.2 million for opioids.
3. Roughly 77 percent of all prescriptions were delivered electronically, up from 73 percent in 2016.
4. The number of prescribers e-prescribing increased 8 percent in 2017, and the number of prescribers enabled for electronic prescribing for controlled substances increased 59 percent in 2017.
5. The top five specialties using e-prescribing are:
- Oncologists (84 percent)
- Sports medicine (82 percent)
- Nephrologists (80 percent)
- Cardiologists (80 percent)
- Family practitioners (79 percent)
6. The top five specialties using EPCS are:
- Pain medicine specialists (25 percent)
- Psychiatrists (25 percent)
- Oncologists (24 percent)
- Family practitioners (21 percent)
- Sports medicine (20 percent)
7. ECPS adoption was driven primarily by state mandates, according to the report. The top five states for EPCS are:
- New York (93.8 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
- North Dakota (57 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
- Maine (41.2 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
- South Dakota (37.3 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
- Minnesota (34.2 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
8. The bottom five states for EPCS are:
- Florida (7.8 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
- West Virginia (6.1 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
- Alabama (5.9 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
- Mississippi (6 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
- Hawaii (6.3 percent of controlled substances prescribed electronically)
Click here to download the full report.
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