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January 28, 2005
HHS Announces Plans for 'E-Prescriptions'
HHS Announces Plans for 'E-Prescriptions' -- GOPUSA
HHS Announces Plans for 'E-Prescriptions'
Talon News
January 28, 2005
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Newly-confirmed Health and Human Services Sec. Mike Leavitt announced on Thursday new proposed regulations that will support electronic prescriptions for Medicare when the prescription drug benefit takes effect in January 2006.
"These proposed e-prescription rules would set standards to help Medicare, physicians and pharmacies take advantage of new technology that can improve the health care of seniors and persons with disabilities," Sec. Leavitt said.
According to HHS, electronic prescribing, or "e-prescribing," enables a physician to transmit a prescription electronically to the patient's choice of pharmacy. It also enables physicians and pharmacies to obtain from drug plans information about the patient's eligibility and medication history.
Having access to this information at the point of care makes writing, filling and receiving prescriptions quicker and easier, HHS says, and it also makes it possible for physicians and pharmacies to make informed decisions about appropriate and lower-cost therapeutically-equivalent alternative medications.
HHS also notes that e-prescribing can improve patient safety and reduce avoidable health care costs by decreasing prescription errors due to hard-to-read physician handwriting and by automating the process of checking for drug interactions and allergies. E-prescribing can also help make sure that patients and health professionals have the best and latest medical information at hand when they make important decisions about choosing medicines, and enabling beneficiaries to get the most benefits at the lowest cost.
"We are committed to widespread use of e-prescribing as quickly as possible," said Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). "In issuing these proposed rules today, seven months ahead of the deadline set by the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), we are laying the foundation for having major e-prescribing standards in place when the Medicare drug benefit begins."
According to information provided by HHS, the proposed e-prescribing regulations will adopt standards for:
-- Transactions between prescribers and dispensers for new prescriptions, prescription refill request and response, prescription change request and response, prescription cancellation request and response, and related messaging and administrative transactions.
-- Eligibility and benefits inquires and responses between drug prescribers and prescription drug plans.
-- Eligibility and benefits inquiries and responses between dispensers and Part D sponsors.
-- Formulary and benefit coverage information, including information on the availability of lower cost, therapeutically appropriate alternative drugs, if certain characteristics are met.
According to HHS, CMS proposes to make the compliance date for these foundation standards Jan.1, 2006, so they will be ready for immediate use when the Medicare drug benefit begins. Additional electronic information can be used in conjunction with these foundation standards, to provide more support for using drugs safely and effectively.
"These standards reflect consensus by stakeholders through the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics to get there quickly," said Dr. McClellan. "This kind of public-private collaboration is the most effective way for Medicare to help lead the way to an effective electronic health care system. We're going to take further collaborative steps to enhance our support for e-prescribing as quickly as possible."
HHS background information explained that the MMA called upon the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) to develop recommendations for uniform standards for e-prescribing to promote patient safety and quality health care. From March to September 2004, NCVHS heard testimony from 65 witnesses and other industry experts including all stakeholder groups identified in the MMA, as well as e-prescribing networks, demonstration projects, software developers, and consumer advocacy organizations. Thursday's proposed e-prescribing foundation standards are based on NCVHS' recommendations to Sec. Leavitt.
HHS says that the proposed regulations, which are now available for public comment, are an important part of the MMA, signed into law by President Bush on December 8, 2003. As part of the MMA, Medicare will require drug plans participating in the new prescription drug benefit to support electronic prescribing but it will be voluntary for physicians and pharmacies.
Additional standards will be tested through a pilot project and recommended for adoption in a final rule to be issued no later than April 1, 2008, and which will take effect no later than one year from the date the standards are issued. Participation by physicians in e-prescribing will be optional, but the establishment of standards and steps to encourage the adoption of effective e-prescribing programs will make e-prescribing more attractive, says HHS.
Copyright © 2005 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
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