California

State Progress Report on Electronic Prescribing

PART 1: 2013 Safe-Rx

Ranking
48
Data as of December 31, 2013
Introduction: This report summarizes statistics associated with the adoption and use of e-prescribing at the state level for years 2011 - 2013. The statistics contained
in this report have been compiled by Surescripts. In all 50 states, the Surescripts network enables standards-based connectivity and a broad range of health
information exchange.
Surescripts' annual Safe-Rx rankings measure the level of e-prescribing activity in each state and the District of Columbia. Rankings are calculated to reflect all three
critical steps in the e-prescribing process: total number of responses to requests for patient eligibility information as a percentage of total patient visits, total number of
responses to requests for patient medication history as a percentage of total patient visits, and the total number of prescriptions routed electronically to both retail and
mail order pharmacies (new prescriptions plus responses to prescription renewal requests) as a percentage of all prescriptions within a state that are able to be
submitted electronically.
1
PART 2: E-Prescribing Utilization
2011 2012 2013
Prescription Benefit Requests 32,519,617 68,925,276 92,400,000
Total Prescriptions Routed Electronically 37,779,591 52,180,721 74,415,126
Total Estimated Responses to Medication Requests 13,717,110 22,364,368 27,332,460
Rate of Response to Benefit Requests at Year-End 73.59% 68.09% 65.32%
Percentage of Total Prescriptions Represented by Renewal Response 22.64% 21.59% 22.42%
Utilization Percentages 2011 - 2013
2

California
State Progress Report on Electronic Prescribing
Data as of December 31, 2013
PART 3: E-Prescribing Adoption
2011 2012 2013
Physicians Routing E-Prescriptions at Year End
3
25,207 31,282 36,840
Community Pharmacies Activated for E-Prescribing at Year-End
4
4,886 5,117 5,298
Adoption Percentages 2011 - 2013

ENDNOTES:
1. 2013 Safe-Rx calculations: Eligible prescriptions do not include preauthorized refills on existing prescriptions, because they do not
require communication between a physician and a pharmacist.
2. Percentages above 100% are due to multiple requests based on individual patient visits.
3. Total number of physicians per state sourced from SK&A. In addition to physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants may
also e-prescribe in your state.
4. Pharmacy calculations use NCPDP supplied data showing total numbers of community pharmacies in each state.
Surescripts, 2014
For more information visit surescripts.com/stats or surescripts.com/saferx