ePrescribing Tops the Hottest 2008 Health Information Technology Issue List
Learn more about the risks and benefits of ePrescribing, plus review recent survey results.
By Belinda Bombei
As global communication and business continues to become increasingly electronic, osteopathic family physicians have been examining ways to use technology to automate the prescription writing process. ePrescribing enables osteopathic family physicians to automate the process of submitting patient prescriptions as opposed to writing them on paper.
Supported by President Bush, ePrescribing gained interest in 2005 with new regulations making it easier for physicians to implement. In December 2007, Senator John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, and Representative Allyson Schwartz, D-Pennsylvania, introduced legislation that would require physicians serving Medicare beneficiaries to adopt electronic prescribing by 2011 or face possible financial penalties.
The bills, SB 2408 and HR 4296, also provide funding to help physicians purchase computers and the software to use electronic prescribing. In addition, doctors would be paid a one percent bonus for every claim they submitted that included an electronic prescription.
EPrescribing Statistics
and Initiatives
According to a just released February 2008 survey of 500 Detroit area physician practices that participated in a three-year pilot program, a large majority of doctors, and their staff who use ePrescribing believe that it allows them to practice safer and better medicine.
Haldy McIntosh & Associates for the Southeastern Michigan ePrescribing Initiative (SEMI) conducted the survey. In addition, the SEMI survey results included:
ePrescribe Florida
A coordinated effort is under way in Florida to motivate more physicians to use electronic prescribing. The initiative, called ePrescribe Florida, first gained support from large health plans and influential provider organizations. The Florida Osteopathic Medical Association (FOMA) serves as one of the influential provider organizations, by serving on the ePrescribe Florida Advisory Council.
Professional associations, such as FOMA, give ePrescribe Florida some peer pressure it can use. The mission of ePrescribe Florida is to promote collaborative state efforts toward successful adoption of e-prescribing.2
Nationwide Rankings of ePrescribing Usage
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich unveiled the first-ever nationwide ranking and analysis of ePrescribing activity across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., March 4, 2008 on Capitol Hill.
Top 10 States Ranked by ePrescribing Activity3
To view the complete state-ranking list, go to www.surescripts.com/Safe-Rx.
Benefits
Supporters of ePrescribing like the fact that it makes the prescription processing more efficient, and it helps eliminate poor handwriting errors. It also gives pharmacies the ability to check for possible drug interactions, allergies, or other potential health problems associated with new prescriptions.
ePrescribing offers many great benefits for patients and physicians, as well as pharmacies, health insurance providers, pharmaceuticals companies, and employers.
The benefits include:
While the benefits are many, there are also some challenges and risks involved with the adoption of ePrescribing.
Challenges
As with any technology and electronic system, ePrescribing faces challenges. One of the early challenges that delayed support for adoption of ePrescribing was concern over improper relations between physicians and healthcare providers.
Technology hardware and software is very expensive and can be challenging osteopathic family physician offices to afford. This creates some ethical dilemmas as hospitals and pharmacies often donate supplies to physicians. ePrescribing opponents suggest this creates unfair competition as the donated supplies may imply expectations of business referrals when patients need prescriptions or care.
Supporters have worked to impose regulations that place caps on donation amounts and attempt to prohibit the potential for physicians receiving kickbacks or equipment donations for referrals.
Technology is only as perfect as the people that use it. Although ePrescribing is intended to help reduce errors, they are still possible. A physician could potentially input the wrong information or amounts or make other errors in communication.
Recent surveys, such as the SEMI Initiative research study, suggest that patients ultimately gain through efficient prescription processing, reduced errors, and safer record management and checks.
Belinda Bombei is the medical editor and writer for tweakMyWords.com and has over 14 years of experience, including five years of experience editing and writing for the osteopathic profession. She provides suggestions to transform osteopathic medical content from good to outstanding, producing osteopathic focused articles, websites, and eNewsletters worthy of recognition.
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