Medication errors kill 7000 Americans every year

NewsToBeRead

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119518213622195332.html

E-Prescriptions
By JOHN KERRY AND NEWT GINGRICH
November 16, 2007; Page A20

In 1799, doctors likely hastened the death of George Washington by
draining a third of his blood to treat a bacterial infection. Bleeding
was a common practice in those days, it dates back to the Greeks and
Romans.

But nowadays, if a doctor used bloodletting he would be barred from
practicing medicine. In the age of the Internet, is it any less
inexcusable that we have yet to modernize and transform our
health-care system?

We have talked long enough about using technology to cut costs and
improve the quality of care. Now is the time to act -- and the place
to start is preventable medication errors.

According to the Institute of Medicine, Americans average one
medication mistake for every day spent in a hospital, accounting for
more than 1.5 million injuries each year. Medication errors will kill
at least 7,000 Americans this year. Of the more than three billion
prescriptions written each year, doctors report nearly one billion
require a follow-up between providers and pharmacies for
clarification. The cost to our health-care system is in the billions.

One reason for this mess is that 95% of prescriptions are transmitted
using 5,000-year-old technology: pen and paper.

That is unacceptable. The deaths and inefficiencies of paper
prescriptions can be nearly entirely eliminated if we use the same
technology we that use in other aspects of our lives. Electronic
prescriptions can replace handwritten, misread and mismatched
prescriptions with online, automated and expert technology.

The benefits are clear and compelling. When a doctor "writes" an
electronic prescription, a computer can warn of potentially dangerous
interactions with other medications or allergies and thereby prevent
thousands of unnecessary hospitalizations each year. E-prescribing can
also let a physician know whether a drug is covered by a patient's
insurance or whether an alternative generic is available at a fraction
of the cost. One initiative led by Chrysler, General Motors and Ford
to encourage doctors to write e-prescriptions in the Detroit region
has generated more than one million prescription alerts that have
saved lives and money.

The benefits of e-prescribing are so important that the Institute of
Medicine has called for every doctor and nurse to prescribe
electronically by the year 2010. Business and labor leaders, health
insurers and consumer advocates are unanimous in their support of this
common-sense initiative.

Doctors also know that e-prescribing is vital for our health-care
system. One recent study of 400 physicians found that 85% of
physicians think e-prescribing is a good idea; 81% say it would reduce
medication errors; and 65% say it would save time. They like a system
that reduces their liability and allows them to focus on providing
care, not filling out paperwork.

The problem is that very few doctors use the technology. Of those 400
physicians polled, only 7% actually transmit prescriptions
electronically. And 63% say implementing the technology is not a
priority. Why? It's not always in their immediate financial interest
to do so.

That must change.

The federal government can lead by requiring that doctors who do
business with Medicare convert to e-prescribing. This can be done by
using market forces and the federal government's purchasing power to
align financial incentives.

First, offer bonus payments to Medicare doctors who already prescribe
electronically or who adopt the technology. Such payments will help
doctors, especially those with small practices without many patients,
to pay for startup costs. Private insurers, like WellPoint, are
already using this strategy to drive adoption of e-prescribing.

If a majority of doctors don't e-prescribe a few years down the road,
the government should require all doctors to adopt e-prescribing or
face financial penalties. E-prescribing should become a condition of
doing business with Medicare. This is no different than the
requirements other suppliers expect to see when they negotiate with
customers.

A new study by the Department of Health and Human Services estimates
that if 18% of doctors in Medicare adopt e-prescribing, the government
will save $4 billion and nearly three million adverse drug events can
be prevented over five years.

This is something Republicans and Democrats can agree on. While we
continue to debate how to cover the uninsured, improve quality, and
lower costs, there is too little being done to modernize health care.
E-prescribing for Medicare is just the beginning of the modernization
and digitization our ailing health-care system urgently needs. A
high-tech, healthier future is within our grasp. We just need creative
leadership bold enough to reach for it.

Mr. Kerry, a Democrat, is a senator from Massachusetts. Mr. Gingrich,
a Republican, is former speaker of the House and founder of the Center
for Health Transformation. Chrysler, GM, Ford and WellPoint are
members of the center.