New Rx App Saves Doctors and Patients Time
Being a physician has always been a busy job and even more so in today’s healthcare climate, but what if there was a way to decrease the time spent writing prescriptions and calling pharmacies. In 2014, more than 4.02 billion prescriptions were filled at retail pharmacies in America. Writing and refilling prescriptions is a high-volume, repetitive task for physicians and their staff that can be time consuming both in and out of the office. A new app, getRx, has the perfect prescription for saving time, money and stress. The mobile app uses smart phones, tablets or PCs to connect patient, prescriber and pharmacy. The app is available in both a physician and a patient version and can be downloaded from ITunes, Google Play as well as Amazon and is compatible with Apple and Android smart phones, tablets and PC’s.
The concept for the getRx app originated with an internist in Murfreesboro, TN who wanted to recapture some of the time he spent out of the office handling requests for prescriptions. The result was a more efficient way to write and refill prescriptions. “In light of all the regulations we face as doctors, time is one thing we all never seem to have enough of. GetRx, is a tool that eliminates the need for me or my staff to call or fax a pharmacy, which saves a significant amount of time,” said Dan Rudd, M.D. who developed the app with software developer Metova Inc. of Franklin, TN. “No matter where I am, or the patient is for that matter, I can send the prescription either to their favorite pharmacy or to one they designate all from my phone or tablet, and in less than a minute.”
The cloud-based app is a mobile prescription pad that is HIPAA compliant with encrypted texting within the app. Getrx is linked to a medication database, which allows the physician to select from a drop down menu the medication and dosage. Google maps is also embedded in the app making selection of a convenient pharmacy easier when the patient is not at home.
More efficient than a traditional prescription pad, getRx lets physicians and their office staffs write and refill prescriptions and communicate with patients and pharmacies directly from a smart phone, tablet or PC. Prescriptions can be written and sent to the pharmacy of choice in 20 seconds. Once the prescription is sent, both the patient and the office receive written notification of the prescription, making charting easier. Any dialogue between patient and physician within the app is also sent to the office for placement in the patient’s chart.
Getrx is easily integrated into any size office structure and comes with three levels of integration designed to let offices tailor their use of the application to best fit their budgets and needs. Nurse practitioners and office staff can benefit from the application and assist in the prescription process. “The physician can determine levels of privileges for office staff,” said Rudd. “The physician can then review and/or approve any prescription from their phone or tablet prior to it being submitted.”
“We have been using it in our office for a couple of months,” said Rudd. “It is very intuitive and easy to use. When you open getRx, it looks like a prescription pad. As you type, drop down menus let you select the correct patient, medication and dosage so there is little margin for error. And there is no charting; the app does that for you by sending the script back to the office. The app even remembers my preferred prescribing patterns on medications which further reduces the time to complete prescriptions.”
For patients, the app is free. It connects them to any and all of their physicians that use the getRx app. This allows the patient to request refills and communicate securely with their physician or their office in mere seconds, right from their smart phone, tablet or PC, which eliminates office staff time answering and returning phone calls for refills or prescriptions. The app notifies patients when the prescription has been sent which can eliminate wasted trips to the pharmacy to pick-up a prescription that is not there. Once a patient downloads the app, they can set-up their profile that includes a photo of their insurance card, which is then automatically sent with each prescription.
