Have your ever been frustrated by your doctor’s handwriting? Illegibly written prescriptions may soon be a thing of the past and medication errors will be drastically reduced if Medicare’s new incentives for ePrescribing are embraced by physicians. The incentives include a bonus program that would give doctors an additional 2% bonus on top of their fee if they choose the ePrescribing option.

U.S. health officials hope the incentive program will reduce the number of prescription errors. “There are terrific human and financial costs associated with illegible prescriptions,“ said Mike Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  A study conducted by the Institute of Medicine found that 1.5 million Americans are injured every year by drug errors. Another study found that each year pharmacists make more than 150 million phone calls to doctors to clarify what was written on a prescription. “That’s a lot of people needlessly hurt and a lot of time spent trying to sort out bad handwriting,” said Leavitt.

The bonus program will begin in 2009. After five years, bonuses for e-prescribing will be phased out and doctors who haven’t adopted ePrescribing will be reimbursed at lower rates. Exceptions will be made for doctors who have legitimate reasons for not complying.

Source: Washington Post