Come March 27, physician providers in New York will be forced to cast aside their writing instruments or face a penalty -- at least when it comes to writing prescriptions.
A state law goes into effect throughout New York requiring doctors and their staff to submit drug prescriptions electronically -- a practice known as e-prescribing -- for all controlled and non-controlled substances.
"Utilizing modern prescription technology has the potential to minimize medication errors for patients," states
a New York State Department of Public Health release about the initiative, which targets other quality-improvement areas as well. "Electronic prescribing also allows for the integration of prescription records directly into the patient’s electronic medical record. Electronic prescribing has the potential to reduce prescription theft and forgery," states the release.
New York-based providers had several years to prepare for the transition to full-on e-prescribing, as the law stipulated that the e-prescribing regulations would begin three years from the implementation date of March 27, 2013. Still, the transition marks a signficant shift in practice patterns for a state that reportedly writes more than 70 million prescriptions in a given year.
Note that providers in New York are eligible to burnish their Rx pads in very limited circumstances, including "a power outage or technical failure." So don't toss away all of your writing instruments.
Read more from the Empire State
here.