Telehealth has breathed new life into the thought of home calls, and now medical doctors’ paper prescription pads are additionally getting a much-needed digital makeover.
E-prescribing, which has been round for years, has already been confirmed to scale back errors, save time and enhance outcomes. The opioid disaster, which prompted a file 110,236 U.S. deaths in 2022, nevertheless, has spurred federal and state laws mandating one other degree of safety to the method of writing prescriptions.
The Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies (CMS) started imposing the Digital Prescribing of Managed Substances, or EPCS, on January 1, 2023, though the U.S. Drug Enforcement Company (DEA) first launched the rules on June 1, 2010. We at the moment are beginning to see particular person states following go well with with their very own laws deadlines for healthcare and EHR suppliers.
With 20% of nationwide prescribers not but enabled for e-prescribing, rural healthcare suppliers particularly have to stand up to hurry rapidly to realize EPCS readiness.3
A seamless answer for making prescriptions safer
“With EPCS, the DEA requires two main controls in place to become and remain compliant,” defined Mrugesh Chandarana, Director of Product Administration, IdenTrust. “First, prescribers must submit identity-proofing information to the credential service provider or certificate authority for verification. After verifying their identity, prescribers must obtain two-factor authentication credentials for signing a controlled substance prescription.”
IdenTrust gives each identity-proofing and multi-factor authentication options that simplify compliance and supply a seamless consumer expertise for healthcare suppliers and prescribers utilizing digital well being file programs (EHRs). For the reason that DEA mandates third-party audits as a part of EPCS compliance, IdenTrust helps EHR suppliers with the audit letter that streamlines the audit course of with DEA regulators. IdenTrust’s answer is well built-in into EHR programs with RESTful APIs and cell application-based authentication.
“From the authentication credential or identity-proofing standpoint, EHR providers don’t have to get involved as IdenTrust works directly with prescribers,” defined Chandarana. “Everything is bundled into the EPCS solution. It typically takes about a week for EHR providers to integrate our solution within their electronic health record system.” IdenTrust’s seamless integration with EHR programs and hassle-free identity-proofing method for healthcare suppliers is simply what the physician ordered relating to EPCS compliance inside EHR purposes.
One-stop store for DEA compliance
For healthcare suppliers utilizing EHR purposes that also want to realize EPCS readiness, a one-stop answer can assist them rapidly onboard their prescribers whether or not these prescribers want solely an identity-proofing answer or a bundled answer that features multi-factor authentication.
“IdenTrust performs identity-proofing remotely and without any video call or human interaction, making the process very seamless for prescribers,” he defined. Not like conventional identity-proofing strategies that require prescribers to attend both a face-to-face or a digital identification verification appointment, IdenTrust takes care of identity-proofing on EHR suppliers’ behalf in order that prescribers can spend their priceless time caring for sufferers.
For healthcare suppliers which have plans to implement an EHR system for the primary time, or which can be shifting from one EHR to a different, IdenTrust’s seamless service extends well-beyond identity-proofing. “We work with more than 45 EHR providers and integrate with their systems so that providers don’t need to get new credentials if they choose to change their EHR application,” Chandarana continued. IdenTrust is a one-stop EPCS answer that permits healthcare suppliers the liberty and suppleness to make use of the EHR purposes that finest go well with their wants and empowers them to extra simply improve their EPCS readiness.
At present, a handful of states already require not simply managed but in addition non-controlled prescriptions to fulfill the identical compliance requirements. It received’t be lengthy till e-prescribing is getting used for all prescriptions.
“Within the next three to five years, I see the same process being applied to all e-prescriptions, including prescriptions of non-controlled substances,” mentioned Chandarana.
References
- Osmani, F., Arab-Zozani, M., et al. Might 2023. Analysis of the effectiveness of digital prescription in lowering medical and medical errors (systematic assessment research). Ann Pharm Ms 81(3):433-445. https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.pharma.2022.12.002.
- Mann, B. December 31, 2022. 2022 was a lethal (however hopeful) yr in America’s opioid disaster. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/31/1145797684/2022-was-a-deadly-but-hopeful-year-in-americas-opioid-crisis.
- Tableau Public. January 13, 2023. EPCS readiness: Which states lead the cost? https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/surescripts.bi/viz/EPCSReadinessWhichStatesLeadtheCharge_0/EPCSMAPS.
Author: jfinison
Date: 2023-09-21 06:00:33
