Healthcare IT News - January 2008 - (Page 6) Healthcare IT News ■ January 2008 industry news www.HealthcareITNews.com Bring on e-prescribing now, seniors say By Molly MerrIll, Contributing Writer aLeXaNDRIa, Va – A new national poll reveals that seniors in rural areas want their Medicare providers to be required to use e-prescribing, bolstering support for the Medicare Electronic Medication Protection Act of 2007. Ayres McHenry and Associates of Virginia, a national public opinion and public affairs research firm, conducted the survey. The survey polled 600 seniors in rural counties throughout the country on Nov. 28-29, 2007. The poll found by a margin of 48 percent to 25 percent that seniors in these areas view e-prescribing as a good idea even if it means more time and money is spent by their doctors to meet these requirements. Forty-eight percent of seniors also agreed that if rural doctors are required to use e-prescribing, they should be given additional financial assistance and time to do so. The Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection Act of 2007, which will require that Medicare physicians begin to prescribe electronically, is expected to save lives and money, and also fits into any Medicare pack- age being discussed on Capitol Hill, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association said in response to the findings. The survey found that only 24 percent of seniors think rural doctors should be exempt from having to use e-prescribing. Of the seniors polled, 21 percent take four to five prescriptions each month to treat chronic conditions and 28 percent take more than five each month. Only 14 percent said they did not take any prescriptions. Due to the number of prescriptions being taken by those polled, 50 percent said they often worry about negative reactions to new drugs. “The E-MEDS Act addresses the single greatest barrier to e-prescribing adoption: lack of urgency in the physician community to modernize the way they prescribe. Unless all physicians face real consequences for continuing business as usual, few will begin e-prescribing and seniors will pay the price,” said PCMA President and CEO Mark Merritt. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: SUrVey 0108 ● CUrTaIN Continued from page 3 [ cynergy ] The advantageous combination of unique design, power and elements. Cynergy by CompuCaddy. A lightweight cart that's heavy on power. Designed for effortless mobility and equipped with the most advanced power system in the industry. CompuCaddy 800.264.4734 www.compucaddy.com e ● Connect: coMpUcaDDy 0108 Pharmacists Association and cochairman of SureScripts. “Electronic prescribing would not be where it is today without Kevin’s leadership over the past five-plus years,” Roberts said. SureScripts was founded by the pharmacy industry in 2001. It operates the Pharmacy Kevin hutchinson Health Information Exchange, which connects pharmacies and physicians. SureScripts’ major challenge from the beginning has been to define electronic prescribing, Hutchinson said. At the beginning, many viewed e-prescribing as paper faxes. SureScripts has moved the needle on that definition, but more work needs to be done to encourage physicians to fully adopt electronic prescribing that includes medication history, decision support and refills – all fac- Rick Ratliff tors that boost patient safety. So, Ratliff knows there is plenty more to build in Act 2 at SureScripts – more physician practices to connect (especially the high prescribers), raising consumer awareness and removing some of the existing barriers to e-prescribing. One of those barriers, he said, is that the Drug Enforcement Agency will not permit controlled substances to be prescribed electronically. Until it does, many physicians figure they will have to maintain two prescribing systems – paper for controlled substances and electronic for everything else. Ratliff will also work with Congress to move ahead proposed e-prescribing mandates by Medicare and Medicaid. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: cUrtaIN 0108 ● http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8406 http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8406 http://www.compucaddy.com http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.compucaddy.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=8457 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8398
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