E-Prescribing Meeting By HHS Cmte. Set For May 25-27
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
Network providers RxHub and SureScripts are expected to testify. The National Health Statistics/Standards Subcommittee is charged with developing principles for electronic prescribing under the Medicare drug benefit.
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HHS' National Vital & Health Statistics/Standards & Security Subcommittee will discuss electronic prescribing standards with e-prescribing networks, software vendors and health care providers at a May 25-27 meeting. The hearing will focus on e-prescribing standards and practices, as well as incentives and barriers to adoption. The committee has been charged with making recommendations to the HHS secretary on the development of e-prescribing standards for the new Part D drug benefit, as mandated by the Medicare Modernization Act. Recommendations are expected by April 2005. The subcommittee will hear perspectives from e-prescribing networks RxHub and SureScripts, findings from a recent RAND study on e-prescribing and a discussion of patient safety issues on May 25. Software vendors and knowledge base vendors will testify on May 26, and health care providers May 27. At its first hearing, the subcommittee heard perspectives on e-prescribing from federal agencies and the IT advocacy group e-Health Initiative, which testified that e-prescribing standards should ensure that physician prescribing choice is maintained (1 (Also see "E-Prescribing Standards Should Protect Physician Choice, E-Health Initiative Says" - Pink Sheet, 31 Mar, 2004.)). CMS Administrator Mark McClellan recently suggested that e-prescribing systems can facilitate more efficient postmarketing clinical studies (2 (Also see "E-Prescribing Will Improve Post-Marketing Studies, CMS Head McClellan Predicts" - Pink Sheet, 14 Apr, 2004.)). The hearing will take place at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Room 505A in Washington, D.C. - Benjamin Lum |