As the California Legislature convenes a special legislative session to reform the state's health care system, lawmakers should consider adding electronic prescribing to the agenda because it "could prevent an estimated 150,000 patient injuries each year in California," Glen Tullman, co-chair of the National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative and CEO of Allscripts, writes in a San Jose Mercury News opinion piece.
The California Medication Errors Panel, which was convened by the state Senate last year, recommended universal e-prescribing "as the solution" to medication errors but "noted that the cost of e-prescribing is the primary hurdle to its widespread adoption," Tullman writes.
However, physicians can get no-cost e-prescribing software from the National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative, a "$100 million coalition of the nation's top technology and health care companies," according to Tullman. The no-cost software "requires no new hardware and minimal training," and the patient safety initiative is connected with "direct financial incentives from health care organizations such as Wellpoint and Aetna," he writes.
The e-prescribing software already is being used by thousands of physicians in every state and is supported by Healthcare Partners Medical Group, the largest physician group in Southern California.
In addition, Tullman writes that the 2003 Medicare law "creates a national standard for e-prescribing, and Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan and Minnesota encourage various aspects of e-prescribing."
He writes that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and state legislators "have the opportunity to take crucial steps to mandate the universal adoption of e-prescribing systems by 2010, ultimately saving lives" and as much as $17 billion annually in costs stemming from medication errors (Tullman, San Jose Mercury News, 9/23).