As a prescription is nothing more than information among a prescriber, pharmacist and patient, information technology can be applied to it. Existing information technology is adequate to print out prescriptions. Medical information systems in some hospitals do away with prescriptions within the hospital. There are proposals to securely transmit the prescription from the doctor to the pharmacist using smartcards and the internet[32]. In the UK a project called the Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (ETP) within the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) is currently piloting such a scheme between doctors and pharmacies.

Within computerized pharmacies, the information on the piece of paper that is the prescription is captured immediately. Thereafter, the prescription is simply an entry within the pharmacy's information system and the paper prescription is stored for legal reasons only.

In cases where a pharmacy is part of a chain of pharmacies, the pharmacies are often linked together through their corporate headquarters with computer technology. Walgreens, for example, uses satellite technology to share patient information. A person who has a prescription filled at one Walgreens can get a refill of that prescription at any other store in the chain, as well as have their information available for new prescriptions at any Walgreens.

Some online pharmacies also offer services to customers over the internet. Walgreens' web site, for example, allows customers to order refills for medicine over the internet, and allows them to specify the store that they will pick up the medicine from. Their web site also allows consumers to lookup their prescription history, and to print it out.

Many pharmacies now offer services to ship prescription refills right to the patient's home. CVS, for example, will ship refills free of charge. They also offer mail service where you can mail in a new, original prescription and a signed document, and they will ship the filled prescription back to you.

Pharmacy information systems are a potential source of valuable information for pharmaceutical companies as it contains information about doctor's prescribing habits. Prescription data mining of such data is a developing, specialized field[33].

Although computerized information systems offer attractive improvements to paper-based prescriptions, they are not yet available in many prescribers' practices. To reduce prescribing errors, some investigators have developed modified prescription forms that prompt the prescriber to provide all the desired elements of a good prescription. The modified forms also contain pre-defined choices such as common quantities, units and frequencies that the prescriber may circle rather than write out. Such forms are thought to reduce errors (especially omission and handwriting errors) and are actively under evaluation. (See: Kennedy AG, Littenberg B. A Modified Outpatient Prescription Form to Reduce Prescription Errors. Joint Commission Journal of Quality and Safety 2004; 30:480-487.)