Important Policy Change Regarding ePrescribing – Please Read
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 11:32 am
I am writing to alert you to an important new policy that may affect you, regarding use of the ePrescribing services provided by McKesson in the Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical, and Lytec MD electronic health record systems.
As you may be aware, federal law prohibits electronic transmission of prescriptions for medications that are designated as “controlled substances†by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Our ePrescribing services have built-in functionality that block users from electronically transmitting such prescriptions. However, we have found that some users of these services have found ways to circumvent these blocks, and have used the system to electronically transmit prescriptions for controlled substances.
To date, McKesson's response to such incidents has been to notify the providers who have issued such prescriptions that such use of our system may constitute a violation of the law, and clarified how to ensure that the blocks to prevent such prescriptions function properly. Nonetheless, such incidents continue to occur. Therefore, McKesson has found it necessary to institute a stricter policy. Under this new policy, which will take effect immediately, when McKesson is made aware of electronic transmission of a prescription for a controlled substance using our system, if the incident is the first for a particular provider, McKesson will provide that provider with a written warning; on the second incident for a particular provider, McKesson will (with notice) terminate that provider’s access to ePrescribing services.
McKesson regrets having to institute this policy, but given their experience to date, they feel there is no alternative, given the legal significance of compliance with federal law in this area.
As you may be aware, federal law prohibits electronic transmission of prescriptions for medications that are designated as “controlled substances†by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Our ePrescribing services have built-in functionality that block users from electronically transmitting such prescriptions. However, we have found that some users of these services have found ways to circumvent these blocks, and have used the system to electronically transmit prescriptions for controlled substances.
To date, McKesson's response to such incidents has been to notify the providers who have issued such prescriptions that such use of our system may constitute a violation of the law, and clarified how to ensure that the blocks to prevent such prescriptions function properly. Nonetheless, such incidents continue to occur. Therefore, McKesson has found it necessary to institute a stricter policy. Under this new policy, which will take effect immediately, when McKesson is made aware of electronic transmission of a prescription for a controlled substance using our system, if the incident is the first for a particular provider, McKesson will provide that provider with a written warning; on the second incident for a particular provider, McKesson will (with notice) terminate that provider’s access to ePrescribing services.
McKesson regrets having to institute this policy, but given their experience to date, they feel there is no alternative, given the legal significance of compliance with federal law in this area.