Pharmaceutical Care Management Association Lobbies For Electronic Prescribing Requirement In Medicare Bill

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail;  Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 06 May 2008 - 5:00 PST

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More than 40 businesses, consumer groups and pharmaceutical stakeholders -- led by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association -- on Thursday sent a letter to congressional committee leaders calling for electronic prescribing legislation to be included as part of a 2010 Medicare package that the Senate Finance Committee is drafting, CongressDaily reports.

The letter -- to Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce and House Ways and Means committees -- stated, "In addition to the beneficial safety aspects of electronic prescribing, [CMS] has estimated that there could be increased administrative efficiencies for physician offices and pharmacies, as well as significant cost savings for patients and payers through access to lower-cost brand and generic medications." Charles Cote, a PCMA spokesperson, said, "We're in the red zone, but we can't afford to be complacent."

A Finance Committee aide said that Baucus is trying to include an e-prescribing measure in a bill addressing a scheduled reduction in Medicare physician fees, but a decision is yet to be made. The more than 40 co-signers of the letter include AT&T, General Motors, UPS, CVS Caremark, BlueCross BlueShield Association, AFL-CIO and Consumers Union (Edney, CongressDaily, 5/2).

Ad Campaign
PCMA also recently launched a national multimedia advertising campaign to highlight the value of e-prescribing technology and its potential to reduce or eliminate medication errors, CQ HealthBeat reports.

The multimedia campaign includes print and Web ads, and a 30-second television commercial, titled "Grave Matters." The television ad begins with a scene of tombstones in a graveyard to signify the more than 7,000 deaths annually from medication errors, and it concludes with a grieving elderly woman throwing flowers into an open grave.

PCMA President and CEO Mark Merritt said that the ad "is intended to be a wake-up call. It's not accidental," adding that it is a reminder to "really get back to the first principle of health care, which is saving lives." Merritt noted that the campaign is another way to press Congress to include e-prescribing legislation in the Medicare bill. He said, "The biggest thing blocking it is complacency," adding, "[Its] prospects are good, but we need to close this thing out" (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 4/30).

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