Eprescribing is just one of the many changes in the medical field brought about by advances in technology and the desire for added patient convenience. Many doctors now use eprescribing software to more quickly facilitate the treatment of patients by searching for the best generic or name brand prescription drug to treat his or her condition, and the patient's information is entered into the system. This information is electronically forwarded via a secure server to the nearest pharmacy for order fulfillment and pickup, eliminating the need for handwritten precriptions by doctor's and physicians. This practice is catching on slowly in many parts of the developed world, but it is widely considered to be a step forward in the field of medicine, facilitating faster care and reducing waste.

As more patient information is stored electronically, this brings with it some security risks, such as accidental dissemination of information over the Internet, viruses and computer hacker threats, data entry errors, wrong prescriptions chosen by mistake, and others. These concerns, for the most part, are overshadowed by the perceived benefits of eprescriptions, and it is expected that more pharmacies, doctor's offices, and others in the medical field will sign up with eprescription vendors, utilizing the new software through secure servers to better serve patients' needs.

RxHub, Surescripts, and many other eprescription vendors are gaining the loyalty and support of the medical community as this technology becomes cheaper and safer, and patients are in favor of it as well. Efforts to control patient information and to keep it secure are being implemented through doctor screenings, patient protocols including thumbprint identification, passwords, and more. These efforts have so far been more or less successful, as new medical facilities are adopting eprescription programs each day. Many doctors are finding little use for the older method of prescribing medicine to needy patients, and the environmental benefits alone have been enough to persuade many in the medical community that eprescriptions are the way to go.

As with any paperless technology, the need to keep records safe and secure will be an ongoing priority, and as this new technology grows, so will the need to increase security and find ways to level the playing field so that malicious cyber attacks and other online threats do not compromise patient safety.