E-Prescribing Called 'Win-Win'
Electronic prescribing could prevent nearly 2 million medication errors and save the federal government $26 billion over the next decade—even after providing funds for equipment, training, and support—if physicians were required to use the technology for their Medicare patients, according to a study released by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. The study found that when physicians use e-prescribing to learn their patients' medication history and prescription choices, both patient safety and savings improve dramatically. However, fewer than one in 10 physicians actually use e-prescribing, according to PCMA. The group, which represents pharmacy benefit managers, is pushing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to require e-prescribing for all Medicare Part D prescriptions by 2010, while providing incentive payments for physicians that would offset their costs for equipment, training and support.
Feds Release Medicaid Drug Rule
CMS has unveiled a new method of setting limits on what the federal government will reimburse state Medicaid agencies for prescription drug payments. As part of the new regulation, states will be required to collect information from physicians about prescription drugs administered in their offices so that the state can collect any rebates offered by drug manufacturers on those products. The final rule, which will take effect Oct. 1, is aimed at reining in inflated drug product payments, CMS said. The regulation is expected to save states and the federal government $8.4 billion over the next 5 years, but even with the change, the Medicaid program still is expected to spend $140 billion for drugs over the same time period. The change is in part a reaction to a series of reports showing that Medicaid payments to pharmacies for generic drugs were much higher than what pharmacies actually were paying for the drugs.
N.Y. AG Fights Rankings
New York's attorney general has asked insurer UnitedHealthcare to halt the introduction of a program that would rank physicians in the state according to quality of care and cost of service. United was slated to release its New York physician rankings next month, and State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's staff said they feared that consumers would be steered to physicians based on faulty data and criteria. In addition, the letter from Linda Lacewell, the attorney general's counsel for economic and social justice, said that consumers may be encouraged through the program to “choose doctors because they are cheap rather than because they are good.” Ms. Lacewell wrote, “UnitedHealthcare's profit motive may affect the accuracy of its quality ratings because high-quality doctors may cost UnitedHealthcare more money.”
APhA Urges Delay in Rx Rule
The American Pharmacists Association and three lawmakers have urged CMS to delay implementation of a new federal mandate requiring the use of tamper-resistant prescription pads for all Medicaid prescriptions beginning Oct. 1. The mandate, included in recently approved legislation to fund the war in Iraq, requires that all Medicaid prescriptions be written on “tamper-resistant” paper to be eligible for federal reimbursement. But even though many states have similar requirements, it will take much longer than 3 months to roll out such a program across the country, said APhA executive vice president and CEO John Gans in a statement. The three lawmakers—Rep. Charlie Wilson (D-Ohio), Rep. Marion Berry (D-Ark.), and Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.)—say that most physicians do not currently use these types of pads, nor are supplies readily available. “The tamper-proof pad law was designed to prevent Medicaid fraud,” the legislators said in a statement. “However, the timeline for implementation could result in patients being turned away from their pharmacies as of Oct. 1, 2007, if doctors fail to write prescriptions on 'tamper-resistant' paper.” The congressmen have introduced a bill that would require only prescriptions for Class II narcotics to be written on the tamper-proof prescription pads.
Army to Educate on Mental Health
The U.S. Army is beginning a program to have all soldiers—and their families—learn the symptoms of traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder and to help service personnel seek treatment. The goal is for all active-duty and reserve military personnel to receive training by mid-October. The Army will use what it calls a “chain-teaching” method, with education coming down the chain of command. Leaders can retrieve materials—consisting of a 35-page guide and video and slide shows—at
New Orleans MD Charges Dropped
A grand jury refused to indict Dr. Anna Pou, the New Orleans surgeon who was accused of murder in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The decision by the Orleans Parish grand jury came just days after Dr. Pou sued the state attorney general over the case, and ends the year-long criminal investigation into Dr. Pou's performance at Memorial Medical Center immediately after the hurricane. Dr. Pou had been accused of giving four patients a “lethal cocktail” of painkillers and sedatives shortly before the sweltering hospital was evacuated. Dr. Pou's suit against State Attorney General Charles Foti accuses the attorney general of using the murder case against her to fuel his reelection campaign. The lawsuit, filed in state district court in Baton Rouge, also asks the court to force the state to defend Dr. Pou against wrongful death lawsuits filed by family members of three of the patients who died at Memorial.