Minnesota physicians required to e-prescribe

Minnesota has announced plans to make it the first US state to require that all prescriptions its employees are written use a paper-less system. Previously, the 50 states have adopted regulations allowing health care providers to adopt e-prescribing technology and many are opting for prescription databases in order to track suspicious drug purchasing associated with prescription drug abuse (Marketletters passim).

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association has welcomed the move. Mark Merritt, the group's president, said: "Governor [Tim] Pawlenty's Administration is the first to make sure that more doctors take advantage of the safety and savings benefits of e-prescribing. This is a refreshing antidote to the 'all talk, no action' approach that too often accompanies this important issue."

The PCMA, which represents pharmacy benefit managers covering 210 million US residents, argues that e-prescribing reduces the incidence of harmful interactions between drugs and errors caused by illegible prescriptions. The group is campaigning for a nationwide adoption of e-prescribing, quoting a study by the Gorman Health Group, which estimated that it could lead to 1.9 million fewer medical errors and billions of dollars in savings over the next decade.