A new summary from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Data says a third of prescribers now access prescription drug monitoring programs through electronic health records. consumers and 62% said they regularly use electronic prescribing technology for controlled substances – up from 37% in 2019.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
Richwine and Everson wrote in a new HealthIT blog post: “The use (PDMP) and electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPS) technology is critical to improving opioid prescribing practices, provide information for treatment decisions and support safe and effective patient care.”
They say the new data complements previous analyzes that demonstrate the benefits of the system by showing greater frequency and ease of use among physicians with PDMP integrated into the EHR.
Nearly 71% of prescribing physicians were using EPCS in 2021 with 62% saying they regularly use it. That’s “a significant increase from just over a third of prescribers who reported ‘regular’ use of EPCS in 2019 (37%),” according to Richwine and Everson.
PDMP use is stable between 2019 and 2021, with more than three-quarters (78%) of prescribers saying they tested the state’s PDMP before prescribing controlled substances such as opioids to patients first.
However, one-third of prescribers now access PDMP through their EHR, compared with one-fifth in 2019.
TREND TO BIGGER WOMAN
Data integration is one of the challenges to the widespread use of PDMPs and one of the reasons why they are not considered as effective as they could be.
Without a unique patient identifier that can link records across multiple pharmacies and lacking access to data across state boundaries, received data on patient ‘in-state’ activity only maybe a picture of some of the patient’s prescriptions.
States also differ in how they mandate or recommend that hospitals and medical groups use and contribute data to PDMPs.
While it uses a lot of data and adds an extra burden on doctors and is far from perfect, it is largely seen as an important tool in the fight to reduce statistics on drug abuse and opioid overdose. of the country.
Analysts note that EPCS, on the other hand, has only been applied on a large scale since the federal order and recent and upcoming deadlines.
“Earlier this year, an ONC study looking at the impact of EPCS mandates in New York state found that opioid prescriptions fell by nearly 6 percentage points after EPCS adoption,” said Richwine and Everson. “. EPCS on opioid prescribing.
ON PROFILE
Richwine and Everson said in a blog post: “While progress in the use of EPCS and PDMP by physicians is promising, our recent analyzes highlight important areas of need. improve”.
“Moreover, it is important to ensure that integration drives value by embedding data into clinicians’ workflows and powering actionable decision support tools.” action to combat the opioid crisis.”
Andrea Fox is the senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS.
