What essential digital innovation was necessary for scaling e-pharmacy models beyond initial patient faxing?
Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing)
The long-term practicality and scalability of the e-pharmacy model hinged upon a critical digital infrastructure enhancement known as electronic prescribing, or e-prescribing. While early online pharmacies could function initially by having patients fax or mail paper prescriptions to the fulfillment center, this process was slow and prone to errors. E-prescribing refers to the direct electronic transmission of prescription information from the authorized prescriber straight to the pharmacy. Developing and adopting these secure electronic transmission systems, which aimed to minimize errors, improve legibility, and significantly speed up fulfillment times, created the necessary digital pipeline. This allowed the authorization process to move rapidly after a patient placed an order online, making the entire service delivery framework efficient rather than purely theoretical.
