News: ACOG part of new e-prescribing program

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is one of five leading physician groups that have launched a new program designed to help more physicians begin sending prescriptions to pharmacies electronically. E-prescribing, which replaces handwritten, printed, or faxed prescriptions, is considered the most accurate and efficient way to prescribe medications. As a result, according to Medical Liability Monitor (4/2008), the Institute of Medicine has called for all prescriptions in the United States to be written and received electronically by 2010. In addition, all computer-generated prescriptions covered by the Medicare Part D program must be transmitted electronically beginning January 1, 2009. An estimated 150,000 prescribers currently are using electronic medical record (EMR) and other clinical software to fax such prescriptions to pharmacies.

To access the new physician group program, the provider goes to the online portal http://www.GetRxConnected.com/. The site offers step-by-step instructions for making the transition from paper-based prescribing to e-prescribing, whether or not the provider has an EMR or other clinical software.

Providers can also find out if their existing software is compliant with the new Medicare regulations and receive a free, personalized report to help them request an electronic connection to pharmacies through their vendor. The site also has an interactive feature that allows providers to assess the financial impact of e-prescribing by calculating the time and resources their practice is currently dedicating to manual processing of prescriptions.