Contact Info:

Irene Froehlich

Director, Marketing

DrFirst

240-671-3200 (c)

ifroehlich@drfirst.com

11 out of 30 SafeRx Awards Given to DrFirst Rcopia E-Prescribing Users

February 27, 2007, Rockville, MD- DrFirst is pleasedroud to congratulate announce theat 11 DrFirst Rcopia users who have been selected to receive the the pharmacy industry's 2nd Annual Safe-Rx Awards presented by SureScripts, NACDS and NCPA. 

The following DrFirst providers have been honored with this award:

Delaware: Edward Sobel, MD; Beth Fisher, MD; and David Krasner, MD

Maryland: Jane Kim, PA

Massachusetts: Alberto Sobrado, MD and Joseph Antaki, MD

Michigan: John Connors, MD; Surjeet Singh, MD; and Viorel LupuNehal Tawansy, MD

North Carolina: William Larsen, MD

Ohio: Paul Martin, MD

"We believe these awards confirm our ability to successfully implement statewide initiatives and to return value to our clients through successful e-prescribing programs,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. “Physicians require e-prescribing systems that are flexible enough to handle a variety of office workflows. Our focus is on not only delivering top notch functionality but also providing hands on guidance to the practice through a workflow analysis, best practice consultation, and in-depth training.”

The 30 Safe-Rx awards are presentedgiven annually to representing the three leading e-prescribing physicians within to the nation’s top 10 states with the highest rates of electronic prescribing and the three leading e-prescribing physicians within each of these states. Rcopia has led the nation in volume of electronic prescriptions transmitted through the Surescripts for well over a year and DrFirst continues its status as market leader in the e-prescribing industry by actively developing the technology to support real-world physician practice workflows.

“DrFirst is a great benefit to patients in many ways including, enhanced patient safety by alerting [me] to possible drug interactions and providing cost savings to patients by informing prescribing physicians about generic alternatives & preferred medications based on patients’ medical insurance,” said Michigan winner Dr. John Connors of Henry Ford Medical Group. The selection of 11 DrFirst physicians as SafeRx recipients represents the selection of more than 1/3 of the total of the nation’s SafeRx recipients as physicians using the DrFirst system. In two states (Delaware and Michigan), 100% of SafeRx recipients were DrFirst physicians and in one state (Massachusetts) 2 of 3 recipients were DrFirst physicians.

“[Rcopia] has played a key role in streamlining our practice.  It has increased efficiency, productivity, and accuracy of our RX’s,” said Maryland winner Jane Kim PA-C of Potomac Physician Associates.

All six (6) states who received awards were sponsored by DrFirst’s health plan clients. (I am not convinced that this is good enough, but I tried)

I think we need to spend more time in this press release discussing why we believe so many of our clients have been selected for this award. I am not sure why. I could make some educated guesses but maybe we should ask our physicians who have been selected. We need a quote or two from these physicians as well.

Since 2001, DrFirst continues has consistently maintained its status as market leader in the e-prescribing industry by actively developing the technology to support real-world physician practice workflows, ensuring continued long term use and high utilization of eprescribing system.increased adoption within the provider community. During the past 14 months, DrFirst clients have consistently sent the greatest number of electronic scripts in the industry. I don’t like this last sentence. It is not clear. It appears to be referring to our script volume to SureScripts, but does not help us differentiate from our competitors who will claim faxes to be considered electronic. I would rather spend time defining what eprescribing is (fully electronic vs. faxing) so that we can differentiate ourselves from Zix.

Currently, DrFirst maintains major regional e-prescribing programs in over 13 states across the country, . All six (6) states who received awards were sponsored by DrFirst’s health plan clients including sevenfour (4) Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans; BCBSDE, CareFirst, BCBSNC, and BCBSMA, BCBSIL, Highmark, and one to be announced and five (5) additional regional partners; Tufts Health Plan, Neighborhood Health Plan, Henry Ford Health System/HAP, Oakwood Health System, and the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. Not sure if we should include this. I would rather see quotes from our recipient docs (praising our system as a tool and telling the world how we helped them achieve these awards). I actually think this thought is a good one. It shows that our payer programs result in physicians that use and it can be inferred that the success of the state is largely a result of the success of our execution of a payer plan. Mike’s point is good to include a physician quote that reinforces how the eRx system and our assistance (deployment, training, support) has helped them integrate it into their workflow succeed with it.

The Safe-Rx awards were created to recognize the outstanding leadership shown by state officials (?) and practicing physicians across the country who have helped make the prescribing of medication as safe and efficient as possible. We need more here that describes these awards. Can SureScripts provide something?

Do we know which state will be honored as the top state – Michigan? If so, we need to make a big deal about that as well. If they will not tell us until it is announced, we need to be prepared with another press release. I have a feeling it will be Michigan. If it is MI, is there any way for us to tell what percentage of script volume our customers represent? Maybe SS would give us the total number of electronic scripts and we could then look at how many our docs do in the state. If the number is compelling, which I bet it would be, in our favor…perhaps we can use it.

About DrFirst

DrFirst is a national provider of physician connectivity services through its award-winning Rcopia electronic prescription management system. Founded in 2000, DrFirst creates innovative services targeted to physicians in both ambulatory and acute care environments. With a strong emphasis on products that link physicians, patients, pharmacies, and payers, DrFirst works to lower healthcare costs while improving clinical outcomes. DrFirst solutions are widely integrated with practice management and electronic medical records software through its “Open Borders” program, and the company counts among its client base, not only physician practices, but major health plans, health systems, and EMR vendors. More information about DrFirst can be found at www.drfirst.com.

About DrFirst

DrFirst is a national provider of physician connectivity services through its award-winning Rcopia electronic prescription management system. With emphasis on products that link physicians, patients, pharmacies, and payers, DrFirst works to lower healthcare costs while improving clinical outcomes. More information about DrFirst can be found at www.drfirst.com.

About SureScripts
Founded by the pharmacy industry in 2001, SureScripts operates the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange™ which facilitates the electronic transmission of prescription information between physicians and pharmacists and provides access to life-saving information about patients during emergencies or routine care.  Today, more than 95 percent of all pharmacies and all major physician technology vendors in the United States are certified on the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange.  More information about SureScripts is available at www.surescripts.com”