A qualified system is not faxing! Many offices who are set up with an EMR or EHR are already covered and are either set up and ready to go or have the capabilities. For those who are not, there’s a permanent link on this page to NEPSI, the free e-prescribing initiative where you can sign up and get started. If you are still using paper records, you can begin e-prescribing without having an electronic medical 
records system. Also, these records can be imported in to Google Health personal health records so the patient will have a full listing of all their medications.
As we all know, private insurers usually take the stance and follow in the direction of Medicare on issues as such, so if you are not set up and need an avenue to get started, check out the NEPSI initiative here if you want to gain the additional 2% compensation being offered by Medicare starting on the first of the year. BD
The Medicare program in 2009 will provide physicians with a financial incentive to use electronic prescribing in hopes of boosting the efficiency and safety of care. Physicians and other clinicians who adopt and use qualified electronic prescribing systems to transmit prescriptions to pharmacies may earn an incentive payment of 2% of their total Medicare allowed charges during 2009. This incentive is in addition to a 2% incentive payment to those who successfully report measures under the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will implement a 1.1% Medicare fee schedule hike in 2009 as required by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008.
Medicare Outlines e-Rx Incentive
A "qualified" system can include faxing, it can also include Rxs printed on your office printer. Surescripts is using scare (in time for Halloween) to drive their EMR sales.
ReplyDeleteFor the 2% you have to use an electronic means so you can report your Rx totals and totals by a couple of the 70 some odd categories required to meet the criteria. Many EMRs now meet the requirements and RxScribbler meets the requirements through secure printing and faxing.
What Surescripts doesn't tell you is they fax a lot of Rxs, you just don't know it!
In some cases they need to fax as the drug store is not equipped to handle yet, but the information goes in to the data base and is recorded, and now that the ICE act for medications is alive and going, in case of emergencies, such as hurricanes, this information can be accessed to get medications to people who have left the areas or are displaced.
ReplyDeleteOne thing for sure, just getting rid of the faxes that come from the pharmacies is enough in itself to make the change, the RX fax bots as some have referred to them.