Health & Fitness
Health and Fitness
Health and Fitness
Wed, February 25, 2009
Tue, February 24, 2009 Free Electronic Prescribing Service Now Available to San Antonio Physicians
SAN ANTONIO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Availity, LLC and Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) today announced the deployment of CarePrescribe, a Medicare-qualified electronic prescribing service, at no charge to eligible physician practices in San Antonio. Following the successful introduction of Availity CarePrescribe in Florida last year, physicians in San Antonio will now have access to the free service as a way to improve prescribing efficiency and safety while reducing patient costs and receiving the benefits of the Medicare E-Prescribing Incentive Program.
Designed to ensure greater patient safety, savings and convenience, Availity CarePrescribe will enable San Antonio-area physicians to view information that will help them select the most clinically appropriate and cost effective medications, and then transmit prescriptions electronically to patients' retail or mail-order pharmacies of choice. The service also offers physicians real-time access to patients' medication history, drug and allergy interaction checks, and benefit eligibility, formulary and co-payment information.
CarePrescribe is a Medicare-qualified e-prescribing service, meaning physicians prescribing electronically via means such as CarePrescribe will receive incentives from the federal Medicare program through 2013.
"Availity is committed to making e-prescribing a success, improving patient care and enhancing overall efficiency in our health care delivery system," said Julie Klapstein, Availity's chief executive officer. "We're able to simplify this process for Texas prescribers by delivering a comprehensive, fully-managed solution that offers everything they need to start e-prescribing without the costly investment. When combined with Availity's other services, like electronic health records and health insurance information, CarePrescribe provides an improved overall experience for physicians and patients alike."
For eligible San Antonio prescribers, the CarePrescribe service will include a portable handheld device that is custom-installed and configured to work with the practice's patient scheduling system. The portable handheld devices work in tandem with a desktop e-prescribing solution, already available to all practices in Texas currently using the Availity Web portal. Deployment of the handheld device throughout Texas is planned for 2009.
"By putting all the crucial information for patient prescription safety in one easy-to-access system, our members will experience more comprehensive, convenient and personalized care," said Linda Hummel-McAlpin, chief executive officer for Humana Central and South Texas markets, which include San Antonio. "With the best possible prescription medication guidance available through CarePrescribe, our members will be healthier and happier, avoiding unnecessary or costly medications and unsafe drug interactions."
The CarePrescribe technology is powered by Prematics, a care-communication company serving the health plan industry. Prematics will provide all installation, training and ongoing support on behalf of Humana and Availity at no charge to eligible practices.
For more information on CarePrescribe, visit [ http://www.availity.com/services_careprescribe.html ].
About Availity, LLC
Availity optimizes information exchange between multiple health care stakeholders through a single, secure network. The Availity Health Information Network encompasses administrative, financial, and clinical services, supporting both real-time and batch exchange via the Web, business to business (B2B) integration, and electronic data interchange (EDI). For more information, including an online demonstration, please visit [ www.availity.com ].
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation's largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with approximately 10.6 million medical members. Humana is a full-service benefits solutions company, offering a wide array of health and supplementary benefit plans for employer groups, government programs and individuals.
Over its 48-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company's web site at [ http://www.humana.com ], including copies of:
- Annual reports to stockholders
- Securities and Exchange Commission filings
- Most recent investor conference presentations
- Quarterly earnings news releases
- Replays of most recent earnings release conference calls
- Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates and times, as well as planned interaction with research analysts and institutional investors)
- Corporate Governance Information
