[telemedicine] HHS Issues Proposed e-Prescribing Regs

[Medical Informatics News]

This week, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt
announced new proposed regulations that will support electronic prescriptions for Medicare when the prescription drug
benefit takes effect in January 2006.


E-prescribing allows providers to transmit a prescription electronically to the patient’s pharmacy. It also enables
providers and pharmacies to obtain patient eligibility and medication history from drug plans. Access to this
information at the point of care has many benefits. It makes writing, filling and receiving prescriptions quicker and
easier, and makes it possible for providers and pharmacies to make informed decisions about appropriate and lower-cost
therapeutically equivalent alternative medications.


E-prescribing can decrease prescription errors due to hard-to-read handwriting and by automating the process of
checking for drug interactions and allergies. The current lack of common standards is a barrier to the use of health
information technology, including e-prescribing. However, the adoption of e-prescribing standards by Medicare will
ultimately make e-prescribing the norm.

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