Minnesota and North Dakota.
Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing or eRx)
Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) is a prescriber's ability to electronically send an accurate, error-free and understandable prescription directly to a pharmacy from the point-of-care. Adopting the standards to facilitate e-prescribing is one of the key action items in the plan to expedite the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) and build a national electronic health information infrastructure in the United States. Below is the meaningful use stage 1 e-prescribing objective and measure.
E-Prescribing Meaningful Use Stage 1 Objective
Generate and transmit permissible prescriptions electronically
E-Prescribing Meaningful Use Stage 1 Measure
More than 40% of all permissible prescriptions written by the eligible provider
are transmitted electronically using certified EHR technology
E-Prescribing Objective Denominator and Numerator
The denominator for this objective consists of the number of
prescriptions written for drugs requiring a prescription in order to be
dispensed, other than controlled substances, during the EHR reporting period.
The numerator consists of the number of prescriptions in the denominator
generated and transmitted electronically
using certified EHR technology. In order to meet the measure of this objective,
40 percent of all permissible prescriptions written by the eligible professional (EP) must be generated
and transmitted electronically according to the
applicable certification criteria and associated standards adopted for
certified EHR technology as specified by the Office of the National Coordinator
for Health IT (ONC).
| Numerator | Number of prescriptions in the denominator generated and transmitted electronically using certified EHR technology. |
|---|---|
| Denominator | Prescriptions written for drugs requiring a prescription in order to be dispensed, other than controlled substances, during the EHR reporting period. |
ONC has released an FAQ stating that "with respect to the capability a complete EHR or EHR module must demonstrate in order to be certified to the
certification criterion adopted at 170.304(b), a complete EHR or EHR module
must be capable of electronically
transmitting prescriptions to external recipients according to NCPDP SCRIPT 8.1
or 10.6 in addition to the adopted vocabulary standard for medications (45 CFR
170.207(d))." Given such information, prescriptions transmitted electronically within an
organization (the same legal entity) would not need to use these NCPDP
standards. However, an EP's EHR must meet all applicable certification criteria
and be certified as having the capability of meeting the external transmission
requirements of §170.304(b). In addition, the EHR that is used to
transmit prescriptions within the organization would need to be certified EHR technology.
The EP would include in the numerator and denominator both types of electronic transmissions (those
within and outside the organization) for the measure of this objective. For purposes of counting prescriptions "generated and
transmitted electronically,"
the generation and transmission of prescriptions to occur constructively if the
prescriber and dispenser are the
same person and/or are accessing the same record in an integrated EHR to
creating an order in a system that is electronically
transmitted to an internal pharmacy.
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