CLEVELAND–University Hospitals was one of five national sites chosen by the Health and Human Services Department to test initial standards for electronically prescribing drugs under Medicare.
University Hospitals Medical Practices (UHMP) and Ohio KePRO, the Quality Improvement Organization in Ohio, teamed up to study implementation of the standards in primary and specialty care physician offices. Both e-prescribing and non-e-prescribing practices participated.
The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 requires that electronically transmitted prescriptions comply with uniform standards by 2008.
The standards will help Medicare beneficiaries receive higher quality care by cutting costs, avoiding adverse drug reactions and improving process efficiencies.
The results presented to Congress last week were mixed. Three of the six test standards successfully conveyed prescription information in the proper format for use in a Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.
These standards were transactions that provide physicians with patients’ formulary and benefit information, medication history and the fill status of their medications.
“The findings in this report, along with previously adopted foundation standards, demonstrate UH’s commitment to patient safety, and our efforts to effectively advance electronic prescribing,” said Ron Dziedzicki, Senior Vice President of Operations at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “This will assist in ensuring that all of our patients receive the highest quality care.”
Some of the initial e-prescribing standards tested by the pilot project have potential but need development prior to being adopted. These include patient dosage instructions, uniform drug terminology and collaboration between a patient’s insurance provider and physician regarding specific prescriptions.
In the course of participating in the study, dramatic efficiencies were noted. The medical staff in the e-prescribing offices improved their ability to issue prescriptions electronically. They also reduced their outgoing pharmacy calls compared to non-participating locations by a margin of 60% - 76%. At the recipient pharmacies, accuracy was greatly enhanced. Additionally, the rate of adverse drug events (ADE) were statistically higher among non-e-prescribing groups proving that e-prescribing lowers the proportion of ADEs.