New ONC details present that, as of 2021, almost all non-federal acute care hospitals were being enabled to electronically prescribe managed substances (EPCS).
According to the American Hospital Association (AHA) Details Technology (IT) Complement Study, the proportion of non-federal acute treatment hospitals enabled for EPCS improved from 67% in 2018 to 96% in 2021. Increased adoption of EPCS by hospitals is important for the reason that e-prescribing enhances hospitals’ ability to assure individual security, steer clear of glitches associated with paper-based mostly prescribing, cut down prescription drug fraud and abuse, mitigate supplier burden, and make improvements to care coordination and workflow efficiency.
Moving from Paper to E-Prescribing
Well being care vendors have historically relied on paper-centered procedures to prescribe managed substances, when those prescribing non-controlled substances have benefited from e-prescribing systems. Reducing reliance on paper prescriptions aids enhance care coordination amid companies and medical workflow efficiencies by streamlining all prescribing into a solitary workflow. E-prescribing helps avert information entry glitches, cuts down pharmacy phone calls to prescribers to make clear composed guidance, and eliminates the will need to coordinate and take care of paper prescriptions in between medical doctors, clients, pharmacies, and other care sites. Most importantly, e-prescribing promotes individual safety by enabling health care vendors to take benefit of safety attributes created into overall health IT items that can alert prescribers of likely drug interactions, inappropriate doses, allergy symptoms, and underlying client problems.
Guidelines at the condition and federal level may possibly have been a driving factor in the adoption of EPCS among hospitals. Following the 2010 DEA regulations that manufactured it legal to prescribe managed substances electronically, all states amended their rules to permit EPCS by 2015. Soon after, the Compound Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Procedure (Support) for Sufferers and Communities Act, enacted in 2018, demanded Medicare Element D prescriptions of opioids and other managed medicine be recommended electronically commencing in 2021. The Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Providers (CMS) applied and finalized this mandate by the Calendar 12 months (CY) 2021 Doctor Fee Agenda. To boost common use of EPCS, a essential instrument for strengthening opioid prescribing methods and combatting prescription drug fraud and abuse, thirteen states had their possess mandatory EPCS rules in outcome prior to 2021.
In addition to large fees of EPCS enablement noticed at the nationwide level, hospital adoption of EPCS was popular in all states. Determine 1 demonstrates that in fifty percent of all states, 100% of non-federal acute treatment hospitals claimed currently being enabled for EPCS. In forty-5 states plus the District of Columbia, additional than 90% of non-federal acute treatment hospitals noted getting enabled for EPCS. Determine 2 exhibits that approximately all non-federal acute care hospitals in states with required EPCS laws had been enabled for EPCS when info have been gathered in 2021.
Figure 1: % of non-federal acute care hospitals enabled for EPCS by point out, 2021.
Info Resource: American Clinic Association IT Nutritional supplement Survey
Determine 2: Modify in the percent of non-federal acute care hospitals enabled for EPCS by condition, 2018-2021.
Information Source: American Clinic Affiliation IT Dietary supplement Study
Use of EPCS amid office-dependent medical professionals is also rising, specifically amongst medical professionals who regularly prescribe controlled substances. Perform proceeds to increase utilization of EPCS in medical professional tactics amid solo practitioners and smaller, reduce-resourced techniques.
A Playbook for ECPS
To aid increased adoption and use of wellness IT in clinical options, ONC designed and released the Overall health IT Playbook, a resource for well being care vendors and their directors to enhance the safety and use of their digital overall health records. The Playbook also features instructional supplies for health treatment providers about the rewards of EPCS to guidance the proper prescribing of opioids and other managed substances, shield people at risk for opioid misuse or abuse, and cut down fraud and drug diversion. With each other, we can use health IT to assist safer use and administration of managed material prescriptions.
