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May 3, 2010

ifroehlich

Don’t Implement E Prescribing with a Blindfold on! Pt 1

In order to make your e prescribing experience as successful as possible, we recommend following the Best Practices guide as adapted from www.surescripts.com.
Click  below to view the guide that will ensure that your e prescribing software capabilities are maximized and your patients are experiencing the highest quality of care possible.

  1. Implement and use all electronic prescribing services to achieve greatest benefit. This includes prescription benefit, prescription history, and prescription routing (bi-directional).
    1. To be eligible for Medicare incentive payments under MIPAA, prescribers must be using all of these e-prescribing services.
    2. Using prescription benefit information will ensure selected medications are covered by the patient’s drug coverage, meet therapeutic guidelines and are cost-effective.
    3. Bi-directional prescription routing enables automating of prescription renewals which reduces phone calls and faxes to the practice and saves prescriber and staff time while ensuring better patient service. Be sure to check the system regularly throughout the day and always respond within 24 hours. It is helpful to assign this responsibility to an individual in the practice.
  2. Avoid batching or queuing prescriptions before sending them to the pharmacies electronically. This reduces the chance of the patient arriving at the pharmacy before the prescription is ready.
  3. Follow DEA regulations and be sure of your system’s capabilities around sending controlled substance prescriptions electronically. Do not approve prescription renewal requests for controlled substances that are sent electronically unless your e prescribing software adheres to DEA regulations.
  4. Designate a practice expert for e prescribing. That staff member, by becoming increasingly adept at using the electronic prescribing system, will elicit additional value from your investment by making the process run more smoothly.

About ifroehlich

Ms. Froehlich has been with DrFirst since its inception in 2000. In her role as Director of Marketing, she oversees the planning, directing, and coordinating all marketing and public relations efforts at DrFirst. Ms. Froehlich has a B.S. in Communications from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.