E-prescribing rates have hit an all-time high in the United States, with nearly 70 percent of physicians electronically prescribing medicine, according to an ONC report.
However, the e-prescribing process does not allow physicians access to the latest drug information, which could potentially lead to adverse events, according to a Medscape report.
Drug compendia are summaries of drug information — such as interactions, dosage forms, patient education material, clinical references and warnings — that serve as the information backbone to the e-prescriptions. However, there can be up to a six-month delay from the time a drug is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or updated for new indications to when that information becomes present in the drug compendia in the electronic health record by be used in the e-prescription capabilities, according to the report.
While drug compendia publishers post updated information as soon as they receive it, the information has to be delivered to EHR vendors who then have to insert that update into the EHR, according to the report. EHR vendors generally do not receive drug compendia updates as they happen; rather, they come on a periodic basis.
If the drug information is not in the compendia, the physician cannot prescribe it via e-prescribing tools because it has yet to be assigned a unique code. What's more, if a drug has been updated with new indications, the physician may be basing their prescription decisions on outdated information, according to the report.
"This is a serious patient safety issue because the due diligence and care of physicians could be affected by the information on drug/drug interactions and drug allergies that may be as much as six months old, as well as by their inability to prescribe appropriate — and new — treatments," according to the report.
The report suggests healthcare practices and physicians work with their EHR vendors to determine how current the drug compendia are and determine what they can do to increase the time from drug updates to EHR updates. Providers can also contact federal organizations such as CMS and ONC to bring this issue to light and encourage a response.
"Otherwise, healthcare providers will be susceptible to claims of liability and questions of due diligence, as well as potentially denying patients new treatment and drug options," according to the report.
More articles on e-prescribing:
10 States With the Highest, Lowest E-Prescribing Rates
Study: E-Prescriptions May Produce More Labeling Errors Than Paper Prescriptions
Global E-Prescribing Market to Reach $888M by 2019