December 4, 2007 – Sage Software today joins a list of petitioners urging the White House and President George W. Bush to revise regulations prohibiting controlled drugs from being electronically prescribed, because they are negatively impacting the adoption of electronic prescribing and foregoing potential significant efficiencies e-prescribing brings to healthcare.
Sage Software is among those submitting the letter along with large healthcare-related organizations such as BlueCross BlueShield, CVS, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists and Wal-Mart.
“E-prescribing is safe and secure,” said Michael Burger, director of clinical product management for Sage Software Healthcare. “We appreciate that the government’s obligation is to safeguard public health, but the vast inefficiencies in our healthcare system are overlooked in the current regulations. E-Prescribing is one of the many remedies that could counteract such inefficiencies. The cost savings are immense and the need in our healthcare system is great.”
Sage Software systems enable more than 6 million e-prescribing transactions each year. The company heralds e-prescribing for the efficiency and enhanced speed and safety it brings to healthcare delivery.
According to the coalition’s letter: “Electronic prescribing is a system that enables prescribing clinicians to securely deliver prescriptions via computer immediately from the point of care directly to a patient’s pharmacy of choice… e-prescribing also improves patient safety through warnings about adverse drug interactions and allergies,” among other functionalities.
The coalition’s White House plea also states electronic prescriptions actually save lives by eliminating miscommunications such as illegible handwriting, unclear abbreviations, ambiguous orders, complex regimens and dosages, and enable a reduction in Adverse Drug Events (ADEs).
For more information: www.sagehealth.com