Minnesota Mandates E-Prescribing

HDM Breaking News, June 3, 2008

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has signed legislation to mandate the use of electronic prescription technology and require implemented electronic health records systems to be CCHIT-certified.

The provisions are in Senate File 3780, now the 2008 Minnesota Health Care Reform Act. Provisions in the law are designed to increase the availability and coverage of health insurance, improve chronic care management, reform payment processes, make pricing and quality data transparent, and fund programs to combat tobacco use and obesity. The law also requires a study on ways to reduce claims adjudication costs and adopt more uniform methods of processing claims.

The new law mandates use of electronic prescribing by Jan. 1, 2011. Prescribers and dispensers must use either the Health Level Seven messaging standards or the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs’ SCRIPT standard to transmit prescriptions and prescription-related information.

The law does not mandate use of electronic health records. But to ensure EHR systems are interoperable, they must be CCHIT-certified. Further, the EHRs must meet the e-prescribing provisions of the law.

For text of the bill, go to leg.state.mn.us/leg/legis.asp, click on Bill Search/Status and enter SF 3780 in the search box.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:

• Electronic Data Interchange
• Electronic Health Records
• Health Information Exchange
• Medication Management
• Policies/Regulation