October 6, 2005 -- HHS Pushes for Electronic Prescribing

Electronic prescribing, which allows a physician to transmit a prescription electronically to a patient’s pharmacy of choice, got a boost from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday, as HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt told a press conference that proposed new regulations will accelerate use of e-prescribing by letting doctors receive donations of hardware, software, and training to encourage them to use the new method. Leavitt said computer-assisted prescriptions have been shown to cut by 70 percent the errors that occur as the result of hard-to-read handwriting, and he said the electronic method also “automates the process of checking for drug interactions and allergies.” The highly technical new rules will be published in the Federal Register with 60 days for public comment, and will be required procedures for Medicare prescription drug plans that are scheduled to go into effect next January. A description of the e-prescription initiative is available at www.hhs.gov/news.