CHICAGO, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Allscripts, the leading
provider of clinical software, connectivity and information solutions that
physicians use to improve healthcare, on behalf of the National ePrescribing
Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI(TM)), strongly supports the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposal for the adoption of additional
standards to be used by participants in the Medicare prescription drug benefit
program when they prescribe electronically. The proposed new standards would
help eliminate medication errors and the inefficiencies of a process that
relies on handwritten paper prescriptions.
If the CMS standards are adopted after a public review period, physicians
who prescribe electronically for Medicare patients would be required to have
secure access to their patient’s medication history, information about their
drug coverage, standard patient instructions for taking medications, and a
clinical drug nomenclature with standard names for medications. Physicians
who know what medications their patients are taking and what drugs their
insurance plan covers can prevent unhealthy drug interactions, and help their
patients make sound financial choices regarding co-pays and generic
medications.
“By further developing the standards for electronic prescribing, CMS has
passed another important milestone in the government’s plan to encourage the
adoption of electronic health records and build an interconnected healthcare
system in the United States,” said NEPSI Co-Chair and Allscripts Chief
Executive Officer Glen Tullman. “The new standards ensure that physicians
have all the information they need to provide improved care at lower cost.
NEPSI supports the proposed technical standards and urges their rapid
implementation.”
NEPSI is a coalition of the nation’s leading healthcare and technology
companies that is dedicated to eliminating preventable medication errors by
providing free electronic prescribing technology to every physician in
America. NEPSI is led by Allscripts and national sponsor Dell Computers, the
world’s leading computer company. Other companies sponsoring NEPSI are Aetna,
Cisco Systems, eRx Networks, Fujitsu Computers of America, Google — the
coalition’s Search Sponsor — Horizon BCBS of New Jersey, Microsoft,
NaviMedix, Quest Diagnostics, Sprint Nextel, SureScripts, Wellpoint, and
Wolters Kluwer Health.
The coalition’s web-based software, eRx NOW(TM), supports the standards
proposed by CMS and is used today by more than 5,000 physicians who have
signed on since NEPSI’s launch in January 2007. Designed to appeal to
physicians in solo practice or small groups, eRx NOW is available free to any
healthcare provider with legal authority to prescribe medications, and
requires no download, no new hardware, and minimal training. The product can
quickly generate secure electronic prescriptions and deliver them
computer-to-computer or via electronic fax to more than 95 percent of all U.S.
pharmacies via SureScripts. All prescriptions are instantly checked for
potentially harmful interactions with a patient’s other medications using a
real-time complete medication database provided by Wolters Kluwer Health, as
well as real-time notification of insurance formulary status from leading
payers, plans and pharmacy benefit managers. Clinicians also can use eRx NOW
to search and find targeted health-related information for themselves or
patients using the NEPSI Custom Search Engine from Google.
In its drive to extend ePrescribing to every physician in America, NEPSI
also supports the efforts of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association
(PCMA) to promote legislation requiring that all physicians who treat Medicare
patients prescribe electronically, and to provide annual incentives for
participating physicians. In the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, Part D
sponsors were required to accept ePrescribing, and initial national standards
were created for Medicare. Physicians, however, were not required to use the
technology. As a result, fewer than one in 10 physicians have chosen to use
electronic prescribing. NEPSI concurs with the PCMA that the only realistic
way to rapidly accelerate adoption of ePrescribing is to require that
physicians who treat Medicare patients use the technology.
According to the Institute of Medicine, preventable medication errors are
responsible for more than 1.5 million injuries and 7,000 deaths each year.
Caring for the injured accounts for billions in extra costs. A new study by
the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that if just 18% of
doctors in Medicare adopt e-prescribing, the government will save $4 billion
and nearly three million adverse drug events can be prevented over five years.
About NEPSI
The National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI) is a coalition
of the nation’s most prominent technology companies and leading healthcare
organizations dedicated to improving patient safety by providing free access
to simple, safe and secure electronic prescribing for every physician in
America. NEPSI includes national sponsors Allscripts and Dell; executive
sponsors Cisco, eRx Networks, Fujitsu, Microsoft, NaviMedix, Quest
Diagnostics, Sprint Nextel and Wolters Kluwer Health; healthcare sponsors
Aetna, Horizon BCBS of New Jersey and WellPoint; connectivity sponsors
SureScripts; and search sponsor Google. The NEPSI offering also is supported
by a growing number of academic medical centers, integrated delivery networks
and physician groups across the U.S. who are leading the rollout of the NEPSI
electronic prescribing solution eRx NOW, within their states and regions. For
more information, visit NEPSI on the web at http://www.NationaleRx.com.
eRx(R) is a federally registered trademark belonging to eRx Network, LLC, and
Allscripts’ use is pursuant to license.
About Allscripts
Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) is the leading provider of clinical software,
connectivity and information solutions that physicians use to improve
healthcare. The Company’s business units provide unique solutions that inform,
connect and transform healthcare. Allscripts award-winning software
applications include Electronic Health Records, practice management,
e-prescribing, document imaging, emergency department, and care management
solutions, all offered through the Company’s Clinical Solutions units.
Additionally, Allscripts provides clinical product education and connectivity
solutions for physicians and patients through its Physicians Interactive(TM)
unit, and medication fulfillment services through its Medication Services
unit. To learn more, visit Allscripts on the Web at https://www.allscripts.com.
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements about Allscripts
Healthcare Solutions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements
are developed by combining currently available information with Allscripts
beliefs and assumptions. Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future
performance. Because Allscripts cannot predict all of the risks and
uncertainties that may affect it, or control the ones it does predict,
Allscripts’ actual results may be materially different from the results
expressed in its forward-looking statements. For a more complete discussion of
the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may affect Allscripts, see the
Company’s 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K, available through the Web site
maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov.
SOURCE Allscripts
CONTACT: Dan Michelson, Chief Marketing Officer, +1-312-506-1217,
dan.michelson@allscripts.com, or Todd Stein, Senior Manager|Public Relations,
+1-312-506-1216, todd.stein@allscripts.com, both of Allscripts
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