Sanford Health, which last November unveiled its docZ electronic health record system, has about half of its physicians using the program that allows the pharmacy to receive a prescription from a physician via computer rather than on paper. Doctors are submitting more than 9,000 e-prescriptions a week, or almost 40,000 a month.

Avera Health is in the middle of a pilot run of its Doctor First program. Physicians at a variety of Avera clinics throughout the state, including several at Avera McGreevy in Sioux Falls, are using the program, said Dr. Herb Saloum, Avera's medical director of e-pharmacy.

Avera hopes to be out of the pilot phase with its program by this fall. Once the system's electronic medical records program is running at its centers, the programs will be integrated, Saloum said.

Doctors get an incentive for using an e-prescription system during the next several years from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, though that incentive eventually will become a penalty for those doctors who haven't made the move, said Dr. Dan Heinemann, chief medical officer for Sanford Health. Saloum expects that private insurers also eventually will create penalties for not have electronic programs.

Bill Ladwig, vice president of professional services and a pharmacist for Lewis Drug, said Sioux Falls seems to be ahead of the nation when it comes to electronic prescriptions.

"We're way ahead of the curve," Ladwig said. "Nationally, this isn't being utilized to a large extent. It just happens to be utilized here in our area."

E-prescriptions can eliminate errors and make the process more efficient, health care providers say.

"The major benefit of e-prescribing is patient safety," Saloum said. "That's what all these programs are built around. Many of the mistakes are made from incorrectly interpreting the physician's writing."

The system also allows doctors and pharmacists to check for duplicate prescriptions a patient might be taking or possible interactions a medication might have with other drugs, which not only will be safer but also will save patients money, Heinemann said.

"Everyone wins with e-prescribing, but the instantaneous interaction between physicians and pharmacists benefits our patients most of all because of the decreased likelihood of prescription error," Heinemann said.

According to Surescript, which Sanford uses to help connect it to pharmacies, Sanford physicians have the second highest number of e-prescriptions per prescriber in the country, Heinemann said.

Both Saloum and Heinemann said e-prescribing programs at both health systems also will be able to tell what medications are in a patient's insurance formulary.

"That can be really helpful, and I think it will be very beneficial for patients because we'll be able to get them the most appropriate drug that's covered by their benefits for the least amount of money."