One of the numerous states battling the Opioid Crisis is Oklahoma. According to Oklahoma Government, an important piece of the comprehensive solution to reverse the Opioid epidemic would be switching one word in the Oklahoma prescription drug law. The current Oklahoma law regarding electronic prescribing states that “electronic prescribing may be used for controlled substances. By switching “may” to “shall,” the law would require controlled medications to be processed electronically, which would ultimately eliminate paper prescriptions. It’s incredibly important to stop written paper prescriptions because they are easy to forge, which puts more opioids into the hands of addicts.
One may think, how easy is it to forge a paper prescription? According to Tulsa County Director of Government Affairs Terry Simonson, after reviewing research conducted on paper prescription forging, he described the forging as “mind-boggling” how easy it was. Experts from pharmacists to DEA agents were being fooled by fake paper prescriptions.
Since paper prescriptions are becoming easier and easier to forge, the evolution of e-prescribing can completely eliminate paper prescriptions. Not only does this address the issue of forging prescriptions, but there are additional benefits to helping the Opioid Crisis. E-prescribing also allows doctors to prescribe smaller dosages. Drugs are often prescribed in larger amounts because doctors fear that they could potentially prescribe an insufficient amount and the patient would be left in pain. E-prescribing eliminates that fear, allowing doctors to monitor and refill medications quickly.
RXNT|e-prescribing helps combat the Opioid Crisis not only in Oklahoma but in the rest of the United States where prescribing controlled substances continues to be an issue. The automatic drug interactions check can prescribe for a patient as well as check their medical history directly within the e-prescribing solution. To learn more about ePrescribing with RXNT, call us at 1-800-943-7968 Option 2, email us at s[email protected] or click on “Learn More” below.