<nobr>Jun 2, 2008</nobr>

ERIC Writes to Congress about Benefits of e-Prescribing

ERIC was one of 20 organizations that signed an educational letter to key House and Senate committee leaders about the benefits of e-prescribing in terms of safety and efficiency for physicians, pharmacists, and patients. The letter sought to dispel the notion that the U.S. healthcare system lacks uniform or complete e-prescribing standards, or that those standards have yet to be adopted broadly by physician technology vendors.

The technical requirements to implement e-prescribing on a broader scale already exist, and that the uniform standards are already being adopted across the nation by physicians and pharmacies the letter contends. It also details the various structures of uniform standards that developers and purchasers of e-prescribing software already have in place to guide their utilization of e-prescribing technologies.

The letter argues that there is no need for Congress to wait for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to complete three additional regulatory standards before taking action to encourage e-prescribing through incentives.

ERIC supports the adoption of e-prescribing technology as a clear way to improve employee health and lower purchaser health expenditures. ERIC supports the various legislative initiatives to promote e-prescribing, such as the Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection act of 2007 (E-MEDS, H.R. 4296, S. 2408).

Questions or comments on this issue should be directed to Edwina Rogers, erogers@eric.org, or Rohan Beesla, rbeesla@eric.org.


Websites:

Letter to Congress

S. 2408

H.R. 4296

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