E-Prescribing: Meeting Regulatory and Technology Challenges to Address MU and E-Rx Initiative Requirements

Jeffrey Firlik, BSPharm, MSA, R.Ph., Pharmacist, Principal, CSC, and Vice-Chair of the Vermont Board of Pharmacy. Electronic Prescribing has been proven to reduce medication errors and improve medical office efficiency. It has strong government support, as evidenced by the CMS e-Rx initiative, as well as ARRA Meaningful Use (MU) requirements. Recently adopted state and Federal regulations, designed to prevent unauthorized prescribing and the illicit use of prescription drugs, present technological and logistical challenges that make electronic prescribing difficult to implement. This discussion includes MU and e-Rx incentive requirements, regulations that must be met to implement the technology, and how vendors of EHR technology and IT departments are addressing these challenges.