Care Choices HMO Implements High-Tech Tool to Help Physicians Reduce Prescription Drug Costs and Medical Errors

ePocrates Rx™ offers instant access to prescription drug information and clinical data through PDA

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., January 29, 2003 - Care Choices HMO doctors now have access to a powerful tool that will help them compare the co-pay levels of prescription drugs for their patients and provide the most up-to-date clinical information such as dosing and drug interactions, before a prescription is written. By downloading free software from the Internet to their personal data assistant (PDA), physicians will have access to Care Choices formulary, or list of covered drugs, through ePocrates Rx™, a hand-held drug reference guide designed for the Palm OS platform. ePocrates Rx is currently used by more than 250,000 U.S. physicians, including 9,000 in Michigan.

By accessing the ePocrates software on their PDA in the examining room, physicians immediately can see the latest list of drugs covered by Care Choices, scan the different drug options and check for drug interactions involving a patient's current medications. This tool enables the physician to prescribe appropriate medications that are covered at the lowest co-payment for the patient. Prescription cost information is important because co-payment levels can vary depending on whether the drug is a generic, preferred drug or non-preferred brand-name drug.

"The cost of prescription drugs continues to be one of the major drivers of health care inflation. By combining the Care Choices formulary information with the clinical data available through ePocrates Rx, we will be able to provide physicians with information that will improve patient safety and make it easier to select more cost-effective alternatives when writing prescriptions," said Luenetta Jackson, PharmD, director of clinical pharmacy for Care Choices. "This high-tech tool can help our members save money on prescription drugs. It will also streamline the prescription-writing process and make it more convenient for our members, doctors and pharmacies."

In the past, doctors had to check each insurance company's printed formulary to determine which drugs were covered. These books quickly become outdated, making it difficult to get access to the most up-to-date coverage information without calling the insurance company. While Web-based formularies have made it easier for doctors to get access to more current information, the typical exam room doesn't have Internet access. As a result, doctors sometimes write prescriptions for medications that are not covered through the patient's insurance company, or are covered at the highest co-payment. The patient typically doesn't see that price until they are getting the prescription filled. At that point, selecting a more cost-effective medication requires phone calls between the pharmacy and the doctor's office.

In a recent study, doctors indicated they spend up to 2.5 hours each week dealing with prescription-related phone calls between the pharmacy and the doctor's office because of cost and interaction issues. Those using the ePocrates software reported a 64 percent reduction in follow-up calls with pharmacists. The research also showed that physicians who use this tool choose the most appropriate drugs for their patients.

The ePocrates Rx software has also been shown to help physicians prevent medical errors. A recent study at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, Mass., showed that physicians who used ePocrates could potentially prevent one to two errors per week, and look up clinical drug information much faster that using traditional sources such as Physician's Desk Reference.

Many physicians in the Care Choices HMO network are already using PDAs in their practices. Paul Harkaway, MD, president of Huron Valley Physicians Association (HVPA), which includes more than 700 doctors in the Ann Arbor area, said that the leadership of HVPA has strongly embraced the use of technology, including PDAs, in practicing medicine and is encouraging all its physicians to utilize the tool. "The addition of the Care Choices formulary to ePocrates will help our doctors save time and make it easier to provide patients with the most appropriate and cost-effective medications," he said.

About ePocrates
ePocrates Inc. is the largest handheld clinician network, with over 680,000 registered health care professionals. In addition to ePocrates Rx™, ePocrates offers a clinical suite of products, ePocrates Rx Pro™, which includes an herbal database and an infectious disease application. ePocrates also offers formulary hosting, messaging, market research and clinical trial recruitment capabilities via its proprietary network. ePocrates is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif. For more information on ePocrates, visit www.epocrates.com.

About Care Choices
Care Choices HMO is a nonprofit health care organization and a subsidiary of Trinity Health, one of the nation's leading providers of health care services. Since 1986, Care Choices has been providing quality health care to thousands of members throughout Michigan. Care Choices offers a broad, fully integrated network of physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals all sharing a strong commitment to improving the health status of the communities it serves by delivering effective and affordable health care. Care Choices HMO maintains the highest rating available of Excellent by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).