E-Prescribing Standards
Finalized
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued uniform standards,
effective April 1, 2009, for electronic prescribing under the Medicare Part
D prescription drug program. Physicians participating in Medicare are not
required to adopt e-prescribing, but must follow the standards if they do.
The transmission standards are intended to facilitate widespread use of e-prescribing and help reduce the estimated 530,000 annual adverse drug events among Medicare beneficiaries. The e-prescribing rule covers the following four types of information.
Formulary and Benefits
Prescribers will save time because they will be able to communicate electronically with Medicare Part D sponsors to check a patient's Medicare prescription drug plan benefits, which drugs are covered and which generic drugs might be lower cost alternatives.
Medication History
Physicians and other health-care
providers, drug dispensers and Part D sponsors will use the e-prescribing
standards to communicate amongst themselves about a patient's medication
history—medications
currently being taken or previously taken, as prescribed by the present
provider or others. By better informing prescribers about their patients'
current and past medications, the rule will facilitate making prescription
decisions and avoiding harmful drug interactions.
Fill Status Notification
Pharmacies or other drug dispensers will use the e-prescribing standards to notify prescribers when a prescription has been filled and picked up. This information should help physicians track whether patients with chronic conditions are following the prescribed treatment.
Provider Identifier
The e-prescribing rule's identification standard for physicians, dispensers and Part D sponsors is the National Provider Identifier (NPI) number. Use of the NPI for all e-prescriptions should eliminate callbacks to medical offices by pharmacies to verify an individual prescriber's identity.
Please contact a member of our Health Care Team if you would like to discuss this topic further.
Health Care Commentaries is
provided by Somerset’s
Health Care Team
for our clients and other interested persons upon request. Since
technical information is presented in generalized fashion, no final
conclusion on these topics should be made without further review. For
additional information on the issues discussed, please contact a member
of our Health Care Team. This
document is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for
the purpose of avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed on the
taxpayer.
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P.C.
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Indianapolis, Indiana 46240
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