| As you may have noticed, on June 1st the DEA recently made effective the electronic prescribing of controlled substances. This is great news for the entire Health IT industry and OA Systems applauds the DEA for taking these much anticipated steps. This will definitely help overcome one of the major hurdles for e-prescribing. However, because of the complexity of the criteria set forth by the DEA for certification of both prescriber and pharmacy applications, it may take a while before the industry actually sees the electronic transmission of controlled substances.
We at OA Systems are currently exploring what needs to be altered in RxCure, our patented e-prescribing software, in order to allow for the electronic transmission of controlled substances. Because these changes may take some time, we cannot determine when you will be able to prescribe controlled substances electronically through RxCure. However, we will keep you updated through our communication streams such as our newsletter and blog. Thank You for your understanding. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. For further information, please see FAQs from the DEA and Surescripts Statement on DEA Interim Final Rule. |
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Posts Tagged ‘electronic prescription’
The Intricacies of E-prescribing Controlled Substances
National Community Pharmacists Association Says E-prescribing is a Big HIT
The executive VP and CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) says that, “pharmacists have a vested interest in making e-prescribing work because computerized prescription information potentially provides more accurate and faster transmittal to pharmacists than written prescriptions do”. We here at OA Systems agree!
Bruce Roberts made his comments at the Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee Information Exchange Workgroup hearing earlier this year.
Also at the hearing, the NCPA summarized the advantages of e-prescribing for pharmacists. It noted that there was by and large “positive acceptance” and “improvement in work flow” for the pharmacists who were familiar with e-prescribing.
Of course, as with implementing any new technology, there are challenges – especially for community pharmacies. But the NCPA says it believes the independent pharmacy community is geared up to tackle the obstacles they’ve outlined “so that we can all accelerate the development of a robust system of e-prescribing.”
According to Surescripts, around 18 percent of prescriptions were sent electronically in 2009. This was almost three times more than the amount sent electronically in 2008!
About 85 percent of community pharmacies are connected and ready to receive those electronic prescriptions. However, only 25 percent of all clinic-based physicians are now e-prescribing. So it looks like the pharmacies have more technical capacity to effect change in the e-prescribing world. But we should look at the bright side and see the amount of potential for growth. The bottom line is that there are a lot more physicians who need to start e-prescribing!
Impact of Controlled Substances on E-Prescribing
A lot of times we come across doctors who are interested in e-prescribing but when they explore the technology in depth to find a comfortable fit, some find out that they are unable to prescribe scheduled drugs through any of the e-prescribing solutions.
Federal and state governments as well as the private sector are investing tens of billions of dollars to push e-prescribing and EHR technologies past the tipping point. With so much momentum building towards e-prescribing and EHR, the DEA will finally allow doctors to prescribe scheduled drugs electronically this summer.
What will this mean for doctors? A lot of practitioners from psychiatrists to pain management doctors will now gush towards embracing e-prescribing which will help the health IT industry move closer to the tipping point.
Cornell Study Proves the Advantage of e-Prescribing in Reducing Errors
According to a recent study by Cornell University’s school of medicine, an estimated 2.6 billion drugs are provided, prescribed or continued in the ambulatory setting. More importantly, the study found that health care providers using an electronic system to write prescriptions were seven times less likely to make errors than those writing their prescriptions by hand. None of us here at OA Systems went to Cornell, so you do the math!
So, should doctors around the country use e-prescribing to decrease prescription errors? We think so and are adding our two-handed shove to the current strong push to encourage doctors to e-prescribe.
Examples of the types of errors found in the study include incomplete directions and prescribing a medication but omitting the quantity. Not seriously harmful mistakes, but resulting in lots of lost time for doctors, patients, and pharmacists from the resulting callbacks. None of us here at OA Systems went to Cornell, but we can tell you that lots of lost time equals lots of unhappy people.
“It is important that physicians know how technology like electronic prescribing systems can improve the safety and value of care they give [their] patients” and “it is also important that electronic prescribing systems are easy for health care providers to use, fit well into their workflow, and that providers have technical assistance to help them install and maintain these systems”. That’s what Dr. Rainu Kaushal, the head of pediatric quality and safety for the Komansky Center for Children’s Health at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, says. Smart folks, these Cornell people!
As you can see, in order to be beneficial, e-prescribing should be easy for health care providers to use and fit well into their workflow. These are important things to look at when selecting an e-prescribing solution. Physicians should make change a positive thing for their practices. And here’s one added perk of e-prescribing that even the folks at Cornell probably didn’t think of: you’ll never again be accused of having a “doctor’s handwriting”! 
Controlled Substances Approved for Electronic Prescribing by DEA
I cannot believe this news!! It took a long time, but the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will finally allow prescribers to send electronic prescriptions for controlled substances.
According to a document released on March 24th entitled Interim Final Rule on Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances, they acknowledge the positive impact this will have on the Health IT industry in terms of providing doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies more flexibility and options when e-prescribing.
It won’t take effect for a couple of months but hey, if we can wait for years, we can afford to wait just a little bit longer. We here at OA Systems Inc. will have the time to enable RxCure to accommodate this change once it does go into full effect!
