NACDS backs e-prescribing Senate bill
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is backing legislation introduced in the Senate that would require electronic prescribing of controlled substances for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. The Every Prescription Conveyed Securely Act was introduced Tuesday by Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., with Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., as co-sponsors.
“NACDS appreciates the leadership of Senators Bennet, Helller, Warren and Toomey in this important work to help confront the opioid-abuse epidemic,” NACDS President and CEO Steve Anderson said. “Electronic prescribing enhances security and curbs waste, fraud and abuse. This legislation is a vital aspect of a more comprehensive and effective approach to protecting families and communities.”
NACDS was one of ten associations and companies to send the senators a letter showing their support for the legislation. In the letter, the Arlington, Va.-based trade organization outlines the advantages of e-prescribing controlled substances, including the ease with which these prescriptions can be tracked and their resistance to forgery. E-prescribing of controlled substances has been a policy goal of NACDS' and was included in its October letter that outlined its various policy stances to the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. NACDS said that its advocated policies are based on based on pharmacists’ experience on the front lines of healthcare, and are based on pharmacy’s longstanding collaboration with law enforcement and health professionals on the complex issue of opioid-abuse prevention.
In January, a Morning Consult poll commissioned by NACDS found that 76% of voters support a requirement to handle all prescriptions electronically as a way to combat the opioid epidemic.
“NACDS appreciates the leadership of Senators Bennet, Helller, Warren and Toomey in this important work to help confront the opioid-abuse epidemic,” NACDS President and CEO Steve Anderson said. “Electronic prescribing enhances security and curbs waste, fraud and abuse. This legislation is a vital aspect of a more comprehensive and effective approach to protecting families and communities.”
NACDS was one of ten associations and companies to send the senators a letter showing their support for the legislation. In the letter, the Arlington, Va.-based trade organization outlines the advantages of e-prescribing controlled substances, including the ease with which these prescriptions can be tracked and their resistance to forgery. E-prescribing of controlled substances has been a policy goal of NACDS' and was included in its October letter that outlined its various policy stances to the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. NACDS said that its advocated policies are based on based on pharmacists’ experience on the front lines of healthcare, and are based on pharmacy’s longstanding collaboration with law enforcement and health professionals on the complex issue of opioid-abuse prevention.
In January, a Morning Consult poll commissioned by NACDS found that 76% of voters support a requirement to handle all prescriptions electronically as a way to combat the opioid epidemic.