"Electronic prescribing can prevent many of the needless deaths and injuries that medication errors cause each year, and with this legislation, the Senate has taken a significant step toward ensuring that patients are safer," said Glen Tullman, CEO of Allscripts and co-chair of NEPSI. "Allscripts and our NEPSI partners are committed to providing electronic prescribing technology at no cost to every physician. We urge the President to sign the bill into law and make it easier for more physicians to adopt this life-saving technology."
As an incentive for physicians to adopt e-prescribing, H.R. 6331 would increase Medicare payments to physicians who regularly utilize e-prescribing by 2 percent in 2009 and 2010, then slightly less over the next three years. Physicians who do not use the technology would see their payments cut by 1 percent in 2011, and a maximum of up to 2 percent for 2013 and beyond. The bill allows for some exceptions to the rule.
An estimated 35,000, or fewer than 10 percent, of U.S. physicians use e-prescribing. The technology cuts the risk of medication errors by automating the prescribing process and alerting physicians to possibly dangerous drug interactions or side effects. Electronic prescriptions also reduce the risk of a misread prescription and save money because physicians are made aware of cheaper generic drug options when writing prescriptions. The nonprofit Institute of Medicine, part of the Washington-based National Academy of Sciences, has urged physicians to move to e-prescribing to reduce what it says are 1.5 million preventable medication errors each year.
"Electronic prescribing and this legislation are essential steps to improving the quality of health care and safety of patients," said James Coffin, Ph.D., vice president, Dell Health Care and Life Sciences. "Along with our NEPSI partners, we're committed to making this technology accessible and easy. Dell sees this legislation as an important first step in the broader adoption of technology across the U.S. health care system, which will ultimately result in better quality care and a more efficient system."
According to the National Progress Report on e-Prescribing, 35 million prescription transactions were routed electronically in 2007. A new study by the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that if just 18 percent of physicians in Medicare adopt e-prescribing, the government will save $4 billion and nearly three million adverse drug events can be prevented over five years.
