On August 9th, the Every Prescription Conveyed Securely Act was introduced into Congress. Support was immediately shown by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) who recently provided a letter to the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction. This organization recently recommended immediate action from the president. Steve Anderson, President of NACDS penned a letter describing their support for the growth of e-prescribing.
“We believe the legislation is an important step in combating the abuse and diversion of prescription opioid medications. Electronic prescribing of controlled substances adds new dimensions of safety and security,” he wrote. “Prescribers can more easily track the controlled substance prescriptions a patient has received. Additionally, electronic controlled substance prescriptions cannot be altered, cannot be copied, and are electronically trackable. Furthermore, the federal DEA rules for electronic controlled substances prescriptions establish strict security measures, such as two-factor authentication, that reduce the likelihood of fraudulent prescriptions.”
Markwayne Mullin, one of the congressmen who introduced this legislation claims, “The EPCS Act, aims to close a dangerous loophole that has been fueling the problem of excessively prescribed opioids.” Mullin further explains that “we need to ensure patients are receiving opioids only when absolutely necessary and take precautionary measures to prohibit them from falling into the wrong hands.”
As of August 11th, 2017, President Trump declared a state of emergency on the opioid epidemic and pledged that “a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money” will go into the effort to combat opioid abuse in the United States. Existing e-prescribing Vendors, like RXNT, have successfully streamlined the implementation and utilization process for Prescribers to ensure they meet current EPCS mandate requirements.
RXNT’s e-Prescribing solution was created to protect people from the dangers of incorrect prescriptions. RXNT|e-Prescribing is here to help reduce opioid drug abuse in the United States. To learn more about our e-prescribing solution or book a demo, call us at 800-943-7968 Option 3, email us at [email protected], or click “Learn More” below.