Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

E-Prescribing

Electronic prescribing, or "e-prescribing," enables a physician to transmit a prescription electronically to the patient’s choice of pharmacy. It also enables physicians and pharmacies to obtain information about the patient’s eligibility and medication history from drug plans. Having better access to patient information at the point of care makes writing, filling and receiving prescriptions quicker and easier. E-prescribing can also help reduce prescription errors due to hard-to-read physician handwriting and by automating the process of checking for drug interactions and allergies.

New regulations that support adoption of e-prescribing and electronic health records were announced on October 5, 2005 by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt. These proposals will speed adoption of health information technologies by hospitals, physicians, and other health care providers to improve quality and safety for Medicare beneficiaries and all Americans. Taken together, they represent a major step forward in meeting President Bush’s goal of widespread adoption of electronic health records.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) proposed rules announced on October 5, 2005 represent a unified effort to advance the goal of improving the health care of Medicare beneficiaries and all Americans through the use of e-prescribing and electronic health records systems.

CMS has issued a final rule contracting the "foundation standards" for e-prescribing that all Medicare prescription drug plans must support. The proposed e-prescribing standards rule and press release issued in January 2005 can be found below.

The unofficial versions of the two regulations are being made available here as PDF files. The documents published in the Federal Register are the official versions.

• CMS Final Rule: Medicare Program; E-Prescribing and the Prescription Drug Program [PDF - 220KB] Final Rule Published in Federal Register
• October 5, 2005 Press Release: HHS Accelerates Use of E-prescribing and Electronic Health Records
• CMS Proposed Regulation: Medicare Program; Physicians’ Referrals to Health Care Entities With Which They Have Financial Relationships; Exceptions for Certain Electronic Prescribing and Electronic Health Records Arrangements [PDF - 145KB] Proposed Rule Published in Federal Register
• OIG Proposed Rule: Medicare and State Health Care Programs: Fraud and Abuse; Safe Harbor for Certain Electronic Prescribing Arrangements Under the Anti-Kickback Statute [PDF - 106KB] Proposed Rule Published in Federal Register
• January 27, 2005 HHS E-prescribing Press Release
• E-Prescribing Proposed Rule

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