[PrvPracNP] electronic prescription system

[GIN11153 at aol.com]

says 'doctors' but  it might be for NPs and PAs also
 
Doctors  offered electronic prescription system
Tue Jan 16, 2007 3:35 PM  ET


By Will Dunham 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. doctors are being offered free access to a system 
 to prescribe drugs to patients electronically in a bid to reduce errors 
caused  by handwritten prescriptions, a coalition of companies said on Tuesday. 
The National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative aims to coax physicians  
and pharmacies to use a Web-based prescription system designed to prevent  
medication errors often caused by illegible handwritten paper prescriptions. 
At a news conference to unveil the plan, its advocates cited a 2006 Institute 
 of Medicine report that found that more than 7,000 people die and at least 
1.5  million are harmed by preventable medication errors in the United States  
annually. 
They said the new system involves no cost to the doctor and requires minimal  
training. 
The initiative involves several leading technology companies and health care  
providers, as well as politically well-connected figures including Newt  
Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. 
"I'm very optimistic that e-prescribing is going to become commonly used,"  
said Glen Tullman, CEO of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., a provider of  
medical software that along with computer maker Dell Inc. is leading the  
coalition of companies behind the plan. 
Doctors are being invited to register for the program online at  
(http://www.nationalerx.com). 
"In the 21st century, the legibility of a doctor's handwriting should not  
determine whether a patient lives or dies," said Gingrich, who founded the  
advocacy group Center for Health Transformation. 
"Yet the paper prescription system has remained essentially unchanged for 200 
 years. There is simply no excuse for medical errors when they are caused by 
an  antiquated system that can easily be modernized and replaced," Gingrich  
added. 
Dr. Nancy Dickey, former president of the American Medical Association,  
called electronic prescribing a way to improve patient safety. 
"You would think if you were a pharmacist and you couldn't clearly read what  
I (as a doctor) had written, that you would simply pick up the phone and 
call.  But it's astonishing how often they make their best guess," said Dickey,  
president of the Texas A&M University Health Science Center. 
Only about a fifth of U.S. doctors currently prescribe drugs electronically,  
with the rest clinging to pen and paper. 

Gail Neuman  RNC CPHW SNP LNC
student nurse practitioner and student midwife
certified  high risk OB/legal nurse consultant
Perinatal Nurse Associates
Notary  Public/Certified Loan Signing Agent
PrePaid Legal Sales Associate
Santa  Ana, CA
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