June 27, 2003
Forrester Research: Congress Set To Mandate ePrescribing By 2007
Forrester Research: Congress Set To Mandate ePrescribing By 2007
June 27, 2003 |
Congress Set To Mandate ePrescribing By 2007 | 
 | Both the US House and Senate today passed landmark bills paving the way for a prescription drug plan for Medicare recipients. The ePrescribing mandates included in the bill will mirror HIPAA, igniting electronic prescription writing, pushing data to the point of care, and giving doctors another reason to embrace EMRs.
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Like the HIPAA legislation, these high-profile Medicare reforms come with profound technology mandates -- and implications for vendors. S.1 and H.R.1 state that by 2007 any Medicare Rx plan to have an ePrescribing program in place must include: - Electronic transmission of Medicare prescriptions. Physicians participating in the Medicare program will need to implement ePrescribing, adding fuel to the already hot EMR market for vendors like Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, iMedica, and WebMD.
 The requirement that prescriptions be written electronically -- not on paper and to be keyed in later by office staff -- puts technology squarely in doctors' hands.
- A flow of clinical and formulary information to prescribers. Payers offering a Medicare Rx benefit must provide for the transmittal of information to healthcare providers, including drug and health history, cost-effective alternatives to the drug being prescribed, and applicable formulary information. This is in line with RxHub's business strategy, validating the company and other content providers like First DataBank and the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare.
- Transactions that comply with to-be-determined uniform standards. A task force must recommend eRx transaction standards by 2005, with final rules due by 2006 and enforcement by 2007-- an aggressive schedule. Congress has directed this team to explore various topics like the current cost of ePrescribing products, their ability to reduce medical errors, and the prospect of universal connectivity and interoperability. Expect claims clearinghouses with power reach among physicians -- especially WebMD -- to provide lessons and leadership.
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Posted by cmayaud at 12:01 AM | Permalink| Comments (0)
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| Posted to Academic | Editorial | Regulatory | RxHub | WebMD | Envoy
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