AMA to HHS: Finish E-Script Standards

May 9, 2008

The American Medical Association is calling on Congress to require the Department of Health and Human Services to complete all national technical standards to support electronic prescribing by the end of 2009.

Further, if e-prescribing is mandated under Medicare or more broadly, the Chicago-based organization supports a two-year transition period after the standards are complete, during which physicians and pharmacies can use facsimiles to transmit prescriptions.

But there’s lots of leeway in the AMA’s proposals, outlined May 9 during a forum on e-prescribing at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

“Special attention also will be necessary for low-volume prescribers, small physician practices, and rural settings where financial, technical and operational challenges may require special exemptions or accommodations,” said Steven Stack, M.D., an AMA Trustee and chair of emergency medicine at St. Joseph Hospital East in Lexington, Ky.

In April, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final rule adopting three standards to support formulary and benefits, medication history and fill status notification components of e-prescribing.

Now, the AMA wants quick action on three additional standards. “Prescribers should be able to efficiently transmit accurate and complete instructions for medications being prescribed, use standard medication terminology, and use real-time prior authorization,” Stack said. “So, it really is essential that these three incomplete standards be finalized and fully functional in order to realize the truly robust e-prescribing benefits sought by so many.”

Further, the AMA called for elimination of federal Drug Enforcement Administration prohibitions on e-prescribing of controlled substances. The association estimates these substances account for 20% of all prescriptions.

For text of Dr. Stack’s remarks, send an e-mail to joseph.goedert@sourcemedia.com.

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