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Expect CMS to issue new electronic prescribing standards by the end of the year, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced July 21.

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, July 28, 2004

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The proposed e-prescribing rules are part of a Bush Administration initiative to move from a paper-based to an electronic healthcare system over the next 10 years decade, and will implement parts of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 (MMA). The MMA allows Medicare to pay higher reimbursements to participating physicians who use e-prescribing.

The MMA provides that e-prescribing based on national standards be mandatory for drug plans participating in the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit by 2009, although CMS expects to require an initial set of well-established standards by January 2006 when the Medicare benefit begins.

CMS is also reviewing existing programs for e-prescribing nationwide to identify features that can be adopted more widely in conjunction with the new drug benefit. Participation by physicians in e-prescribing will be optional, but established standards and steps to encourage effective programs will make e-prescribing more attractive.

"Promoting the adoption of e-prescribing is an essential step toward improving the safety and quality of healthcare," says Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD, CMS administrator. "We intend to use the opportunity of implementing the new Medicare drug benefit to do all we can to help patients get the added benefits of e-prescribing."

CMS also is taking steps to encourage the adoption and use of reliable, confidential electronic health records. CMS has joined a national alliance of purchasers and payers to work with them in their effort to create a common agenda for the promotion of HIT adoption.

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