Health IT execs meet to boost e-prescribing

Health and Human Services Department officials looked to spark the adoption of e-prescribing at a conference this week attended by some 1,400 health care professionals and industry representatives.

The meeting, held in Boston and sponsored by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, was put together in six weeks in preparation for the planned launch of the federal e-prescribing incentive program, set for January. Incentive payments for physicians who institute e-prescribing will initially be set at 2 percent.

We need to raise awareness in plenty of time to be ready for Jan. 1 said Kerry Weems, acting CMS administrator. We have a very short period of time to begin and end the education process.

The next milestone in the adoption push will come in November, when CMS plans to publish its final rule regarding incentive payments to providers. That rule will lay out definitive guidelines on what constitutes complete and successful e-prescribing, Weems explained. He said CMS continues to formulate that guidance and will use the conference to obtain feedback as it prepares the final rule.

Barry Straube, CMS chief medical officer, said the rule for qualifying for bonus payments is potentially reachable by many physicians’ offices.  He said the likelihood of qualifying is quite high for those offices obtaining an e-prescribing system.

HHS officials said they believe the bonus payments will provide the financial driver to accelerate adoption. There is a lot of money on the table here, said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt.

Leavitt cited a $1 billion estimate as the dollar value of prescriptions that fall under the Medicare incentive.

Some physicians, however, remain skeptical of e-prescribing. Questioners during a conference session brought up the cost of adoption and the need for tort reform as issues affecting e-prescribing adoption.

Some anecdotal evidence, however, points to increased adoption.

Randy Boldyga, president and chief executive officer of RxNT, an e-prescribing vendor in Annapolis, Md., said 50 doctors implemented his company’s solution during one recent week, about double the usual number of installations. He said the Medicare incentives are playing a role in the increased activity.