Mandatory controlled substance e-prescribing bill winds its way through Congress

A recently introduced bill from Reps. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., has garnered interest from longtime proponents of e-prescribing in the retail pharmacy industry. The Every Prescription Conveyed Securely Act would require all controlled substances to be electronically prescribed.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores was quick to praise the legislation. “[This] is an important step in combatting the abuse and diversion of prescription opioid medications,” NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson wrote to the bill’s co-sponsors. “Electronic prescribing of controlled substances adds new dimensions of safety and security.”

In addition to its advocacy for e-prescribing, NACDS previously partnered with the National Community Pharmacy Association, helped create the health information network that merged with RxHub and now operates as Surescripts. In 2016, Surescripts said that it saw increased adoption of controlled substance e-prescribing, delivering 45.3 million scripts for controlled substances in 2016 — a 256% increase over the previous year.