Every year, hundreds of thousands of prescription drug errors are made due to handwritten prescriptions. These errors often lead to drug mix-ups, wrong dosages, dangerous drug interactions and allergic reactions.

To combat growing quality and safety concerns, a bi-partisan coalition is trying to pass legislation aimed at expediting the use of electronic prescribing. “E-prescribing” is when a physician uses a computer or hand-held computing device to electronically generate and send a prescription to a pharmacist's computer. The benefits of this technology include reducing potentially harmful drug interactions by alerting physicians of possible risks, eliminating illegible physician hand-written prescriptions and cutting patient wait time at the pharmacy. Less paperwork and more information for the physician equal more convenience and lower cost for the patient.

Two trillion dollars will be spent in healthcare this year in the United States and experts say about twenty five percent of that is waste and duplication. E-prescribing will drive down the overall cost of healthcare in the future, benefiting both individuals and corporations.