A Dose of Technology Is a Prescription for Better Health Care

There is a growing movement in Canada towards digital health solutions, and PrescribeIT™ is one example of how technology is helping to create a more efficient health system, with improved outcomes and a better experience for both patients and clinicians.

“PrescribeITTM is an electronic prescription service created by Canada Health Infoway to eliminate the need for paper prescriptions and safeguard patient health data,” says Dr. Rashaad Bhyat, Physician Leader, Canada Health Infoway. “Some doctors are handwriting prescriptions, others are printing from an electronic medical record, and others are still faxing prescriptions. PrescribeITTM modernizes the prescribing process and gets rid of the paper and faxes.”

Canada Health Infoway is an independent, federally funded organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of digital health solutions.

Dr. Bhyat adds that with the traditional system of prescribing, there is a lot of manual entry at

the pharmacy, which increases the risk of errors, and reading a physician’s handwriting can also be challenging.

Safe and secure

PrescribeIT™ was developed with input from regulators, physicians, and pharmacists and utilizes a cutting-edge authentication process to verify who is prescribing, giving added confidence in the security of data. For clinicians and patients, the process is seamless and convenient. The doctor electronically sends the prescription to the pharmacy of the patient’s choosing. The only thing the patient has to do is pick up the medication.

PrescribeIT™ is currently available in three provinces, but the goal is for it to become a national prescribing system. “It’s a very exciting time,” says Dr. Bhyat. “Tools like this are allowing us to provide better patient care.”