Findings From The Evaluation of E-Prescribing Pilot Sites

The National Opinion Research Center  at the University Of Chicago evaluated five Medicare e-prescribing pilot programs for the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The pilot sites tested various aspects of e-prescribing. The evaluation team gathered results on the six standards under consideration. The team interviewed experts, initiated live transactions, and simulated data transfers in laboratory settings.

Three of five Medicare e-prescribing pilot programs were stymied by the inability of multiple systems to share information with a standard format and vocabulary. Six standards were tested at five pilot sites. Problems were noted for standards used to convey patient instructions such as how often to take the medication; RxNorm, a terminology to describe clinical drugs; and messages that transmit prior authorization information. Successful e-prescribing implementations were performed for standards covering transactions that provide physicians with patient formulary and benefit information, medication history and the fill status of medications. These standards are ready for implementation into Medicare Part D.