A new alliance in US electronic prescribing will deliver real-time access to medication data to physicians at the point of care.

The deal will allow pharmacy benefits manager, Merck-Medco, to gain access to Cybear’s Internet enabled software and service systems, including the Physicians Online portal, its @Rx prescription management system and technology for electronically transmitted prescriptions.

The agreements involve the payment of licensing fees and ongoing fees associated with electronic prescribing technology. This technology will deliver information to physicians at the point of care and help to improve the quality of patient care while helping to reduce overall healthcare costs.

The information provided will include formulary, generic recommendations, drug interaction warnings and other decision support information.

“Cybear’s systems, integrated with our own, will provide physicians with the information they need to prescribe the most appropriate medication for their patients,” said Stephen Cohan, senior vice-president for business development at Merck-Medco.