Running a practice
Benefits and standards of electronic prescribing
E-prescribing is a standard of practice across healthcare fields, including psychiatry.
What is e-prescribing?
Electronic prescribing allows prescribers to electronically send prescriptions directly to pharmacies rather than physically writing a prescription.
The primary goal of e-prescribing is to improve prescription accuracy and patient safety by reducing medication errors, but e-prescriptions has also been found to streamline care, saving healthcare providers, organizations, and consumers time and money.
Since 2003, e-prescribing has been an important focus of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the practice has since expanded as technology has advanced. The 2003 Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) included e-prescribing as a means of enhancing patient safety, requiring all prescription drug plans participating in Medicare to support it by 2009. In 2006, the Institute of Medicine Report emphasized the role of e-prescribing in reducing medication errors.
Now, as the electronic health record (EHR) has become commonplace across healthcare plans and organizations, e-prescribing is a standard of practice across healthcare fields, including mental health. Some states and pharmacy companies now require e-prescriptions.
Benefits of e-prescribing
Compared to handwritten scripts, e-prescriptions are clearer and easier to understand, which reduces the odds of medication errors. Prescribers using an electronic health record system can also include other information with the prescription, which helps save time and improve health outcomes.
Research has found e-prescribing can significantly benefit prescribers, patients, pharmacies, and the healthcare system as a whole by:
- Preventing handwriting issues that can contribute to potentially dangerous and costly prescription errors
- Including important information about a patient’s prescription history, like possible drug interactions and other safety concerns
- Allowing providers to electronically request prescription refills as needed
- Reducing calls back and forth with pharmacies by including a patient’s prescription history with the prescription
- Saving patients time because they don’t have to drop off and wait for the prescription at the pharmacy
Standards and guidelines for e-prescribing
The federal government, via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, regulates e-prescribing, but individual states, pharmacies, and healthcare organizations may have their own requirements.
The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, in particular the SCRIPT standard — which describes data formats — has developed standards for transmitting, recording, and describing prescriptions.
Electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS) is allowed in all U.S. states. Policies vary state-to-state, but as of 2023, Medicare Part D participants have been required to use e-prescribing for prescribing controlled substances, such as narcotics and benzodiazepines.
Some states and pharmacy chains have unique e-prescribing requirements. You can learn more about your state at MDToolbox.
Software for e-prescribing
There is a range of tools, apps, and software available to help you send accurate e-prescriptions to pharmacies. The software that’s right for you will depend on the size of your practice and the degree of tech integration you’d like to use for both you and your patients.
To learn more about how to implement e-prescribing, visit the toolset from Digital Healthcare Research.
