Coalition Launches No-Cost, Online Electronic Prescribing Program
The National E-Prescribing Safety Initiative -- a coalition of technology and health care companies -- on Tuesday launched an Internet-based electronic prescribing program that physicians can access at no cost, CQ HealthBeat reports. The software, called eRx NOW, "is available free to any health care provider with legal authority to prescribe medication, and requires no download, no new hardware and minimal training," according to a NEPSI release. Physicians and their staff learn to use the software through an online tutorial that can be completed in 15 to 20 minutes, NEPSI said (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 1/16). Health care information technology company Allscripts and Dell developed eRx NOW with contributions from Cisco Systems, Google and Microsoft (Sternstein, CongressDaily, 1/17). Other members of NEPSI include Aetna, Wellpoint, Sprint Nextel and SureScripts. The initiative will cost more than $100 million over five years, according to Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman (CQ HealthBeat, 1/16).
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NEPSI estimates that fewer than 5% of practicing physicians in the U.S. currently use electronic prescribing (CongressDaily, 1/17). According to the coalition, many physicians are "reluctant to adopt electronic prescribing largely because of the cost of the systems and a perception that the technology requires too much time to learn and install." Providing the new electronic prescribing program at no cost to physicians will encourage more providers to use the technology, NEPSI said. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, founder of the Center for Health Transformation, said, "The reason that this is a very important event is that you have the private sector coming together with the professional associations with the payers to provide the launch of a product which literally takes away any excuse for not e-prescribing." He added, "It is a clear fact that a paper prescription is dangerous" because of a risk for medical errors. Former CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said, "2007 could be the year when we stop talking about e-prescribing and actually make it happen." Michael Zamore, an aide to Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), said, "This is a good step, but it's obviously not the last step," adding that there are "culture and workflow changes that need to happen" (CQ HealthBeat, 1/16).
