Southeast Michigan e-Prescribing Initiative (SEMI)

Launched in February 2005, The Southeast Michigan ePrescribing Initiative is one of the largest, employer-driven ePrescribing initiatives to encourage the adoption and use of ePrescribing, and validate the impact of ePrescribing technology on improving patient safety and reducing prescription drug costs. SEMI is a joint collaboration between General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler LLC, the United Auto Workers (UAW), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Health Alliance Plan, Henry Ford Medical Group, Medco Health Solutions, Inc., CVS Caremark Corporation, RxHub, LLC and SureScripts.

DaimlerChrysler has also been working with Ford Motor Company and General Motors to transform health and healthcare through the use of best practices and health information technology. Working together with Covisint, a division of Compuware and member of the Center for Health Transformation, the three automakers have engaged employers, hospital systems, physician groups, and health care payer organizations to join an eight-week pilot project that will gather input for a long-term healthcare IT solution in southeastern Michigan. The goal is to increase patient safety by reducing medical errors and reducing health care costs. Electronic health record technology will also provide patients with greater control of their information, empowering individuals as health care consumers. The three autos are also working with the State of Michigan’s Health Information Network (MI HIN) Conduit to Care project to promote connecting health care communities across the State of Michigan.

Results

As of June 2006, more than 800 physicians had enrolled in the SEMI program.
In 2005, SEMI was awarded a grant by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to study the results of the initiative on seniors.
Henry Ford Health System and Health Alliance Plan were awarded the Health Information Technology Award by the Greater Detroit Area Health Council in part because of their success in enrolling over 60 physicians into the SEMI program.
In February, 2006, the Henry Ford physicians reached the milestone of 500,000 prescriptions placed via e-prescribing.
e-Prescribing messages alerted doctors to 6,500 potential allergic reactions and 50,000+ prescriptions were changed or cancelled due to formulary alerts, which increased the use of generic drugs.
e-Prescribing helped improve overall generic use rate by 7.3 %, which will save $3.1 million in pharmacy costs over a one-year period.

***For further information, please visit www.daimlerchrysler.com

Published: January 26, 2009