Dear Colleague,

SureScripts now is Surescripts. After SureScripts and RxHub merged to become the nation's largest electronic prescribing network 2008, the combined company used both names separated by a hyphen. Earlier this week, it was decided to shorten the name back to Surescripts and eliminate the capital "S" in the middle.

Very soon I hope to announce who the new CEO of Surescripts will be and lead it to the next level. But I can tell you that we are making great strides. Last year we saw a twofold growth in e-prescribing adoption and use in the U.S. This continues the trend of the last three years.

A review of 2006-2008 operational data from Surescripts and RxHub indicates that electronic requests for prescription information, the responses to those requests, and the number of prescriptions routed electronically totaled nearly half a billion. (More detailed data will be made available in the soon-to-be-released 2008 National Progress Report on E-Prescribing.)

Surescripts also this week launched the E-Prescribing Resource Center where pharmacists, doctors, payers, hospitals, policymakers, and software vendors can go to find the latest information and advice about e-prescribing. Resources featured on the new Web site include:

• Who's Connected—Enter your ZIP code to find out which pharmacies and physicians e-prescribe in your community and view a full list of the payers, pharmacy benefit managers, and pharmacies connected to the SureScripts network.
  
• Certification Status—Check a software vendor's status and gauge its product's support for e-prescribing.
  
• E-Prescribing Statistics & Rankings—See the latest state and national data that tracks e-prescribing growth and read about progress at both levels, including Surescripts' annual ranking of states.
  
• How to Get Connected—View step-by-step guides on how to establish a connection to the Surescripts network for pharmacies, technology vendors, physicians, or payers.
  
• Best Practices—For those physicians, pharmacists, pharmacy benefit managers, and payers already e-prescribing, Surescripts provides education on how e-prescribing works, tips on how to solve problems, and guidance on how to get the most out of your e-prescribing investment.
  
• Policy Updates—Surescripts' experts share their views and offer background on important policy developments.
  
• News & Events—Read about important announcements related to e-prescribing, and sign up to receive regular updates on important news and events from across the industry.
  

When NCPA and NACDS established Surescripts eight years ago, we envisioned it as a neutral platform to facilitate electronic prescribing—and that vision has been realized, but with much more work to do. Surescripts also was another element of our strategy to have the pharmacy benefit recognized for the value it brings to the overall health care system... one in which the pharmacist's role is central.

I know that some independent community pharmacists have been slow to adapt for e-prescriptions because they don't see enough physicians writing them. Please use the "Who's Connected" feature in the new E-Prescribing Resource Center and you may be surprised to find which physicians—and pharmacies—in your area are into e-prescribing.

Congress has made it clear that it wants physicians to e-prescribe—and in a few years if they don't they will face financial penalties from Medicare. We are working with Congress to see that there are financial incentives for pharmacies to get ready for the e-prescribing wave that surely is coming. Wouldn't you rather ride that wave than have it crash over you?

Regards,