July 19, 2010 - Detroit, Mich. – The Southeast Michigan ePrescribing Initiative (SEMI) was presented with the 2010 Health Information Technology (HIT) Innovation Leadership Award at the first annual Michigan HIT Leadership and Innovation Awards reception. SEMI received this honor for its dedication to driving the adoption and use of the electronic prescribing technology in Michigan.
The award was instituted by the Michigan HIT Commission to acknowledge and promote the use of technology in Michigan’s health care system. The goal of the 2010 HIT Innovation Awards is to raise awareness of HIT use and recognize the professionals, organizations and facilities that have advocated or supported the advancement of HIT and Health Information Exchange (HIE) within the state.
“We are very pleased to be recognized for the program’s leadership on a regional level, in addition to SEMI’s existing national accolades of leading Michigan to become the third most active ePrescribing state in the country,” said Rick Popp, Director, Employee Benefits, Ford Motor Company. “Since the program’s inception in 2005, SEMI has been dedicated to improving pharmacy care for patients in Michigan, as well as helping to reduce costs for physician practices, employers and consumers. This award validates SEMI’s leadership and the long-term investment the partners have made to encourage the use of health information technology in physician practices.”
SEMI was launched in 2005 to promote ePrescribing among physicians in Southeast Michigan. It consists of a coalition including General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Group LLC, the United Auto Workers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Health Alliance Plan, Henry Ford Medical Group, Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and CVS Caremark Corporation.
Through December 31, 2009, nearly 5,000 physicians had enrolled in SEMI. Over that time period, these prescribers have generated more than 18.2 million electronic prescriptions. An analysis of 12.4 million prescriptions written by SEMI physicians since the program began found the following:
• A severe or moderate drug-to-drug alert was sent to physicians for more than 3.5 million prescriptions (or 28 percent), resulting in nearly 1 million (or 33 percent) of those prescriptions being changed or canceled by the prescribing doctor;
• Physicians received nearly 334,000 medication allergy alerts
• Nearly 1.5 million lists of dispensed prescription histories were downloaded by physicians
• When a formulary alert was presented, 33 percent of the time the physician changed the prescription to comply with formulary requirements.
Physicians interested in joining SEMI may call 1-800-722-8979 for more information.