According to a recent release, Imprivata, an healthcare IT security company, has launched EPCS Ready, an online resource center to prepare healthcare organizations to meet the Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances (EPCS) requirements outlined in H.R.6- SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, a comprehensive bill designed to address America’s opioid abuse epidemic, which takes effect on January 1, 2021.
Included in the national bill is an electronic prescribing requirement for all controlled substance prescriptions for a covered Medicare Part D drug under a prescription drug plan. Additionally, 13 states (NY, ME, CT, AZ, NC, RI, IA, OK, TN, VA, MA, CA, and PA) have already enacted legislation containing full EPCS mandates for controlled substances prescribed in those states.
To comply with federal and state EPCS laws, healthcare delivery organizations and providers must meet the DEA requirements for EPCS, which are very specific and require a detailed, highly collaborative cross-functional project plan. EPCS Ready is designed to help healthcare organizations understand the DEA requirements and achieve EPCS success, starting with implementing the right technologies and processes to achieve compliance. The new online hub includes:
- EPCS readiness guide
- DEA requirements
- Federal and state regulations
- Blueprint for EPCS success
- Steps to get started with EPCS
“For our organization, the switch to EPCS was state mandated – but we were heading down that path anyway because of the opioid crisis,” said Dr. Spencer Erman, CMIO, Hartford HealthCare. “Our leadership and providers were motivated to make it happen because we want to do our part to help combat opioid and substance abuse – and this is one very big way we can help. Imprivata made it easy for us to meet all the requirements, while delivering a seamless EPCS workflow.”
For health systems, the benefits of EPCS often go beyond safety and security – they also include bottom-line savings. The Geisinger Health System, for example, recently released data demonstrating that electronic prescribing, in conjunction with other safety and security measures, helped reduce overall opioid prescribing by approximately 50 percent. Geisinger also estimates that they are saving more than one million dollars per month by using EPCS.
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Ken Briodagh
