NEWS: CSMS IPA is pleased to announce its participation in a significant outreach program to raise attention to changes to Medicare Part D regulations that could impact the way you prescribe.
New incentives are now in place to promote the use of electronic prescribing, or e-prescribing:
The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 contains incentives to encourage the adoption of electronic prescribing technology by prescribers. The Act provides positive Medicare payment incentive of up to 2% for practitioners who use e-prescribing systems in 2009 through 2013, and a reduction in payments of up to 2% for providers who do not e-prescribe by 2012.
These incentives underline the importance being placed on electronic prescribing connectivity with pharmacies. This connectivity facilitates a secure exchange of prescription information between the computer in the practice and the computer at the pharmacy. It can significantly improve the efficiency of your practice by reducing the number of phone calls and faxes association with prescription refill requests. It also creates a more secure and accurate prescribing process for your patients.
CMS announced that it’s reinstating the original computer-generated facsimile exemption that was adopted in the November 7, 2005 e-prescribing final rule, effective January 1, 2009.
This means providers can continue faxing prescriptions, for an undetermined time period, if their e-prescribing system does not actually send an electronic prescription or refill request to a pharmacy, but generates a computerized fax. CMS' earlier effort to prohibit computer-generated faxes was designed to push vendors to build--and physicians to use--"true" electronic prescribing systems. But industry comments convinced federal officials that some in the industry are not yet ready to transition from computerized faxes to true electronic transmissions to pharmacies.
How To Get Started
To help our members understand and prepare for these changes, CSMS IPA is collaborating with leading medical organizations to provide free E-Prescribing Readiness Assessments through a special program Web site: www.GetRxConnected.com/CSMSIPA
By visiting www.GetRxConnected.com/CSMSIPA you will find:
Information on the benefits of e-prescribing/pharmacy connectivity, including the business case and social case for e-prescribing.
An estimate of the value of the time your practice spends annually managing prescription renewal requests by phone/fax – time better spent on patient care, or other reimbursable activity.
A listing of pharmacies in your area that can exchange prescription information with your practice electronically.
A free, personalized report that indicates the compliance status of your existing practice software and a tool you can use to request an electronic connection to pharmacies through from your technology vendor.
For current EMR users or for those looking to acquire new e-prescribing technology, taking a few minutes and visiting www.GetRxConnected.com/CSMSIPA will be time well spent.
Additional Resources
CMS Offers Details of Electronic Prescribing Incentive Program:
Just Released:
“How-To” Guide to Help Clinicians Switch from Paper to E-Prescribing Systems -
http://ehealthinitiative.org/assets/Documents/e-Prescribing_Clinicians_Guide_Final.pdf
“Medicare’s Practical Guide to the E-Prescribing Incentive Program”
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/partnerships/downloads/11399.pdf