ShareThisThe dawn of electronic prescribing was supposed to end the head scratching and second-guessing from indecipherable handwritten prescriptions.
But Dr. Greg Bensch, a Stockton allergy specialist who takes pride in his penmanship, isn't ready to drop his pen and prescription pad.
"I'm not sure how it's supposed to make my life easier," said Bensch, who writes about 60 prescriptions a day. "Sometimes, what's supposed to make our lives easier only complicates things.
More than a decade after the launch of the first electronic prescribing system, few doctors have embraced technology touted by advocates as good medicine. Among the key reasons: the expense and the steep learning curve.
The recently signed federal stimulus package includes at least $36 billion for clinics and other medical offices to modernize front-office operations. While the money is intended to help implement electronic medical record systems, the upgraded technology will give many doctors access to software that makes electronic prescribing possible.
Now, about 4 percent of all eligible medications prescribed nationally last year were done electronically, according to SureScripts, which operates the country's largest electronic prescribing network.
While the vast majority of pharmacies -- at least 70 percent, and growing -- are equipped to receive electronic prescriptions, only 6 percent of the nation's doctors use it, according to SureScripts.
But now, with the health care industry under pressure to cut costs by becoming more efficient, a renewed push is under way for electronic prescribing -- and this time it comes with monetary rewards.
The issue involves safety as well. The Institute of Medicine says more than 1.5 million Americans are injured every year -- and 7,000 die -- because of medication errors.
"We really need to focus on questions of quality and safety in health care ... and e-prescribing is a symbol of that," said Jonah Frohlich, a senior program officer at the California HealthCare Foundation.
In January, the federal government began dangling financial incentives to entice doctors to transmit prescriptions via computer for Medicare patients. In exchange, the doctors will earn a 2 percent bonus. Those who don't adopt e-prescribing by 2012 could lose money.
"It's taken a little push from Medicare," said Sunil Perera, who has practiced medicine in Sacramento and Roseville for 33 years.
Perera has had equipment and software for years for e-prescribing but wasn't in a rush to adopt it -- until his staff pushed him.
An e-prescription must be sent through authorized software that transmits drug orders to a secure network, which then routes the prescription to the designated pharmacy.
Prescriptions transmitted electronically remove the guesswork, unlike paper ones containing sometimes illegible scribbles that could cause a pharmacist to mistakenly dispense the wrong drug.
It's not known how many of those mistakes can be blamed on misread handwriting or on miscommunication between doctors and pharmacists. But advocates for electronic prescribing have been sounding the alarm for years.
In a report published in November, the California HealthCare Foundation noted strides already made in electronic prescribing but bemoaned "persistent barriers."
The biggest factor is cost. Physicians, particularly those in small practices, such as Greg Bensch, have been reluctant to invest in the computer hardware and software that allows them to use the technology. There also is reluctance to pay fees associated with subscribing to electronic services.
E-mail Bobby Caina Calvan at bcalvan(at)sacbee.com.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit Sacramento Bee
