Rexall testing e-prescription system

Pharmacy company Rexall said Tuesday that it is testing an "e-prescription" program at selected stores in five Canadian communities.

E-prescribing is a way for doctors to send prescriptions to a drugstore using a computer or a handheld device like a BlackBerry.

"There are proven benefits to the patient from e-prescribing, including the potential to reduce the incidence of medication and dispensing errors due to illegible prescriptions," Dr. Arif Bhimji, president of Alberta's Medicentres, said in a release issued by Rexall.

E-prescribing can cut prescribing errors, dosing errors and harm to patients, Rexall said, citing a study published in the Health Services Research Journal in June 2007.

The system is being tried in three Ontario communities — Toronto, Mississauga and Keswick — and in Calgary and Edmonton.

Rexall is using a tool called the ZRx Prescriber, a web application that enables physicians to fill out prescriptions and make them available to pharmacists, who can view them online via unique barcodes. 

About 2,000 doctors have signed up to use the tool, said Yves Marmet, president and CEO of ZoomMed Inc., which makes the system.