RxHub, PCMA hold symposium on future of e-prescribing

ST. PAUL, Min. Public and private collaborative efforts will accelerate e-prescribing and immediately benefit patients and providers by saving lives, decreasing costs and improving the quality and efficiency of health care. That was the repeated theme of key political and industry stakeholders at the symposium hosted in Washington on Wednesday by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association and RxHub.

Bipartisan support for mandatory e-Prescribing in Medicare Part D was echoed in addresses by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. All three speakers strongly expressed a common message: requiring e-prescribing in Medicare Part D is critical to driving increased physician adoption of e-prescribing, saving billions of dollars in the next five years, as well as preventing thousands of deaths and unnecessary hospitalizations for Medicare beneficiaries.

The three addresses further noted that e-prescribing standards are in place, the national infrastructure is secure, and that patient safety should be at the forefront of public policymaking. E-prescribing standards will continue to evolve and e-prescribing for controlled substances is needed today to realize the full benefits of e-prescribing, they said.

JP Little, acting chief executive officer and chief operating officer of RxHub, explained that the company is proud to have been instrumental in leading manifest change for e-prescribing, which in turn will continue to foster widespread adoption and healthcare transformation.