Congress Approves E-Prescribing Initiative in Medicare Reform Bill

In approving a Medicare reform bill that provides incentives for doctors to forego traditional pad-and-paper prescribing in favor of digital systems, Congress took the lead in protecting America's seniors and reached a major milestone in wiring the health care system.

"History shows that where Medicare goes, the rest of the health care system will surely follow," said David B. Snow Jr., Medco chairman and CEO. "By providing incentives for doctors to embrace e-prescribing technologies in prescriptions written for Medicare, Congress has created a catalyst for a long overdue transformation -- adoption of a system proven to reduce errors and improve efficiencies in the most frequently used process in modern health care: prescribing medicines."

Snow added: "e-prescribing efficiencies reduce the cost of processing a prescription, and can help save billions of dollars for Medicare, reducing paperwork for physicians and pharmacists, and safeguarding the health of America's seniors."

The e-prescribing initiative, which first provides financial incentives for doctors who submit prescriptions digitally and then -- following a transition period -- penalizes those who do not, was contained in broad-based Medicare legislation approved by both houses of Congress and forwarded to the President.

Medco played an instrumental role in a broad coalition of pharmacy industry groups, insurers, employers, clinicians, and patient-advocacy organizations in supporting efforts to incent the adoption of secure digital prescribing technologies to improve clinical outcomes for patients and financial outcomes for payors.

Although surveys reveal that 90 percent of physicians support e-prescribing, fewer than 1 in 10 currently use the life-saving technology.

A recent e-prescribing pilot revealed that:

• Nearly 65 percent of physicians reported changing a prescription due to safety alerts transmitted through the system.
• 75 percent of physicians said the technology improved safety for their patients.
• Approximately 70 percent were very satisfied with the ease of identifying drug-to-allergy and drug-to-drug interactions.

It is estimated that over the next 10 years, up to 80 percent of prescriptions will be transmitted electronically.

"Medicare has traditionally served as a critical tipping point for the broad adoption of new medical practices," said Snow. "As doctors begin using these technologies for their Medicare patients, they will, predictably, use those technologies across their entire patient populations."