Benefits
There are many benefits to implementing e-prescribing in your office. Improving patient safety by reducing medication errors and reducing the opportunity for prescription fraud or tampering can be immediately recognized. Maybe even more important is the opportunity to save time and money.
According to a Medical Group Managers Association (MGMA) study, the time spent dealing with unnecessary administrative complexities translates into $15,700 per full time physician. This figure was based on time spent manually processing refills, as well as effort associated with illegible handwriting, and verifying formulary and dosage information. E-prescribing can help your practice save time by reducing these unnecessary tasks allowing you to use your office staff more efficiently and focus on patient care.
Medicare Penalties (and Incentives)
In November 2010, CMS released guidelines for e-prescribing. All eligible professionals are required to successfully e-prescribe and report such on their Medicare Part B claims for 10 patients by June 30, 2011. Those eligible professionals who do not comply will face a one percent reduction on their 2012 Medicare allowable amounts.
In addition, eligible professionals are required to e-prescribe on a total of 25 patients by December 31, 2011 or face the same penalty for their 2013 Medicare allowed amounts. Exceptions might apply for certain providers.
On a more positive note, bonus payments are available through the PQRS program for those who e-prescribe and report that information to Medicare Part B. More information is available at CMS.gov/ERXIncentive.
Available e-Rx Solutions
If you are interested in e-prescribing, we can provide options that link into our Allscripts and AdvancedMD billing software, or an option that is a free, stand-alone solution. The following links should help you find out more about these products.
Option 1
Here’s the link for the free e-Rx product.
Option 2
Also, you can do it through Allscripts and create linkage to our PM system, and have some additional features, but there’s a small cost if you use this product. Here’s the link for that system.
Option 3
Finally, you can do it through AdvancedMD directly from AdvancedMD PM or EHR. Additional fees may apply if you choose this product.
