title: Increasing access to emergency contraception through online prescription requests.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe a pilot program, Plan B Online Prescription Access, to provide easy access to prescriptions for emergency contraception via the Internet.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured electronic prescriptions for Plan B (Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Cincinnati, Ohio) by month over time. Pharmacists faxed patient-generated prescriptions back to the Department of Public Health for confirmation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Despite no marketing, within the first 18 months of the program, 152 electronic prescriptions for Plan B were requested by 128 female San Francisco residents. Seventy-eight prescriptions were filled (51%) by pharmacists.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  If correctly marketed, online prescriptions for Plan B have the potential to be an effective means of increasing emergency contraception access in both urban and rural settings across the United States. Further user-acceptability studies are warranted.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, 500 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. sarah.averbach@ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Averbach
authors.forename: Jacqueline Moro
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wendt
authors.forename: Deborah K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: Susan S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Philip
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Klausner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044363:Contraception, Postcoital; D003280:Contraceptives, Oral, Synthetic / Q000600:supply & distribution* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055695:Electronic Prescribing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D016912:Levonorgestrel / Q000600:supply & distribution* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012495:San Francisco
chemical_list: D003280:Contraceptives, Oral, Synthetic; D016912:Levonorgestrel