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Emergency Rx service begins

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 14, 2007

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A group of pharmacists has developed new technology that will allow physicians and pharmacists to access the prescribing history of those displaced by natural disasters.

The program, called Emergency Rx History, was first tested as part of an effort to retrieve medical records of those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Pharmacies listed information online katrinahealth.org/ that was retrievable by other credentialed caregivers across the country.

In the event of a future emergency, some of the country's largest pharmacies, including Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and Wal-Mart, will provide prescription history through the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, operated by SureScripts.

The information can be accessed through some electronic medical record and e-prescribing systems.

For those without the necessary software, the American Medical Association and Informed Decisions, a technology service company, will facilitate access through an online emergency prescription database (link).

Physicians can check if their computer systems can access Emergency Rx History through SureScripts' Web site (link).

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/05/14/bibf0514.htm.

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