BCBSA Pledges Support To Help Implement Medicare E-Prescribing 'As Quickly As Possible' For Seniors
July 21, 2008
WASHINGTON – Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) President and CEO Scott P. Serota issued the following statement in response to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt's electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) event today:
"BCBSA strongly supports HHS Secretary Leavitt's personal commitment to move as quickly as possible to implement e-prescribing technology for Medicare beneficiaries. Enacted with broad bipartisan support, Medicare's new e-prescribing requirement may well prove to be the most far-reaching and important provision contained in the 'Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act.'
"The nation's 39 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies have been at the forefront of efforts to encourage broad adoption of e-prescribing. As a board member of the American Health Information Community and a founding member of the Center for Improving Medication Management, BCBSA was the first and largest family of health plans to call for a Medicare e-prescribing mandate.
"E-prescribing will help improve quality of care by reducing adverse drug events and increasing compliance with prescription drug regimens; promoting cost-savings through greater use of generic drugs; and expanding seniors' pharmacy choices, including community pharmacies, chain drugstores, and mail-service pharmacies.
"This new e-prescribing requirement will likely have repercussions that extend far beyond Medicare. As a purchaser of healthcare services for more than 44 million Americans, Medicare's e-prescribing requirement is likely to encourage use of e-prescribing and other health information technology among others, including: Fortune 500 employers, small businesses, labor unions, and other public programs.
"BCBSA looks forward to working collaboratively with Secretary Leavitt, Congress, beneficiaries, doctors, pharmacists, and others to implement e-prescribing technology for Medicare beneficiaries as quickly as possible."
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 39 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage for nearly 100 million members - one-in-three Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit www.BCBS.com.
