Congressman Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-MA) recently introduced legislation that would mandate Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS) under Medicare Part D. The “Every Prescription Conveyed Securely Act”, H.R. 3528¹, was introduced into the House of Representatives.

It states that a prescription for a covered part D drug under a prescription drug plan for schedule II – V controlled substances must be transmitted electronically. If the bill passes, it would apply to coverage of drugs prescribed on or after January 1, 2020.

The aim of the legislation is to combat the national opioid epidemic. E-Prescribing does this by providing safer and more secure prescriptions. Electronic prescriptions can’t be forged or stolen like paper prescriptions. It also allows prescribers to easily track prescriptions and prevents patients from doctor shopping.

“Opioids claim nearly a hundred lives a day, and parents across the country worry they will be next to get the call their child has overdosed,” said Clark.  “Modernizing public health practices to include electronic prescriptions will curb the over-prescribing of opioids, eliminate the costs and inefficiencies of paperwork, and strengthen communication between doctors and patients.  Congress should come together to pass this commonsense solution to prevent overdoses and save lives.”

Mullen stated, “We need to ensure that patients are receiving opioids only when absolutely necessary and take precautionary measures to prohibit them from falling into the wrong hands.  Our bill, the EPCS Act, aims to close a dangerous loophole that has been fueling the problem of excessively prescribed opioids. By requiring all doctors and pharmacists to use an online database when prescribing these highly addictive drugs, we allow e-prescriptions to control, track, and monitor these highly addictive painkillers on a new level. This bill prevents patients from doctor shopping and prevents fraudulent, handwritten paper prescriptions.”

We have seen several states including New York, Maine, Connecticut, Virginia, and North Carolina take a similar approach to combat opioid abuse by mandating e-Prescribing of controlled substances at the state level, but this would be the first bill passed at the national level. This is definitely a step in the right direction of fighting the national opioid epidemic and we are hopeful that Congress will recognize the benefits e-Prescribing can bring. We also urge prescribers and health IT vendors alike not to wait for such bills to be enacted and to start taking advantage of the benefits of EPCS now. Contact us for more information about EPCS for prescribers and integrating EPCS for vendors at info@mdtoolbox.com.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3528/text/ih?overview=closed&format=xml

Implementing ways to fight the national opioid epidemic is at the forefront of many states’ legislative sessions.  As we’ve mentioned in several previous posts, a growing number of states are fighting the epidemic by requiring prescribers to electronically prescribe these controlled substances. A new study published by the Journal of Opioid Management shows that these lawmakers are on the right track. And it’s more than just increasing legibility and preventing prescription fraud.

Researchers from John Hopkins University analyzed 510 prescriptions for opioids looking for errors, discrepancies, and variations from ideal practice¹. The study included both handwritten and electronically generated prescriptions filled at an outpatient pharmacy. An alarming 89% of handwritten prescriptions contained errors. What’s more is that 41% of those prescriptions were noncompliant with DEA rules. Overall, 92% of handwritten prescriptions failed to meet ideal practice standards, contained errors, or were noncompliant with DEA rules.

In contrast, none of the EHR computer-generated prescriptions contained errors and all of them were fully compliant with DEA rules. Electronic prescriptions are written using standard templates where most of the time the software will not even allow a prescriber to save the prescription without including necessary information such as the date, amount, and at least two patient identifiers. The software also aids in making sure any additional DEA rules and best practices are being followed.

The opioid epidemic needs to be tackled from several angles, including making sure the prescriptions that are being provided are accurate and safe for patients. Patient safety needs to be a top priority and prescribers need to make use of the tools available to aid them in following best practices and ensuring all DEA rules are abided by. Electronically prescribing has been shown time and time again to be a powerful resource. For more information on how to get started with e-Prescribing, contact us at info@mdtoolbox.com or 206-331-4420. 

  1.  An analysis of errors, discrepancies, and variation in opioid prescriptions for adult outpatients at a teaching hospital http://www.wmpllc.org/ojs-2.4.2/index.php/jom/article/view/556

North Carolina is the most recent state to pass a law requiring the use of e-Prescribing in an effort to combat opioid abuse. Governor Roy Cooper recently signed the Strengthen Opioid misuse Prevention (STOP) Act into law. The act requires that certain schedule II and schedule III controlled substances be electronically prescribed by January 1, 2020.

The act also sets a 5-day limit for initial prescriptions for acute pain and a 7-day limit for post-operative pain. It sets requirements for utilizing the North Carolina Controlled Substance Reporting System as well. The statewide reporting system tracks patients’ Schedule II-V controlled substance prescriptions so that prescribers can identify patients who may be misusing those controlled substances.

The opioid epidemic is hitting nationwide and North Carolina is no exception. There was a 73 percent increase in the number of opioid-related deaths from 2005 to 2015 in North Carolina with more than 13.000 opioid-related deaths during the period. 

North Carolina is the 5^th state to pass such legislation. New York, Virginia, Maine and Connecticut have similar laws requiring e-Prescribing. Several other states have pending legislation as well. All of these states hope to fight the opioid epidemic by reducing the number of opioids available and preventing the addictions from even starting.

E-Prescribing is an important tool in the opioid battle and we are happy to see so many states recognizing that. We are sure more and more states will join in the fight with this tool, but we also hope that prescribers will recognize the benefits and not wait for state mandates to start utilizing it. If you are a prescriber ready to start employing e-Prescribing of controlled substances in your practice, contact us to get started right away.