[StBernard] La. network to provide Rx info in disasters

[Westley Annis]

La. network to provide Rx info in disasters

La. network to provide Rx info in disasters
A new Web site, refined from one rushed together after Hurricane Katrina
scattered Louisiana residents nationwide, is ready to help doctors and
pharmacists get patients' prescription histories almost instantly after a
disaster. 

It's called In Case of Emergency: Rx
<http://e.ccialerts.com/a/hBGLOcCAIyhSgAa0kNPApXY0Y.Aa0kvLpE/cdb12> , or
ICERx, after the acronym many agencies recommend people program into their
cellular phones to make their personal emergency contacts easy for rescue
workers to find.

After an earthquake, hurricane or other disaster, representatives from the
National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community
Pharmacists Association, which represents independent pharmacies, would
decide during a conference call whether to open the site. 

Chains would make available prescription histories from affected ZIP codes.
A company that processes claims for independent pharmacies would provide
data for that group. Individual independent pharmacies also could sign on to
provide information. -- by the Associated Press