PCMA issues statement on release of 'meaningful use' final rules in HITECH Act

Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO Mark Merritt issued the following statement on the release of today's "meaningful use" final rules in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act:

"While we applaud this important step forward and believe that HITECH will play a historic role in promoting HIT adoption, we hope that regulators will do more down the road to ensure that the full safety and savings benefits of e-prescribing are realized on behalf of America's patients.

"We believe, for example, that providers who receive HITECH payments should perform 'e-prescribing safety checks' to prevent dangerous medication errors, and think that certified EHR products should support — and providers should use — all the safety and savings components of e-prescribing as defined in Medicare Part D. Despite these concerns, however, we are pleased that more physicians continue to adopt e-prescribing every day and are certain that HITECH will accelerate that process tremendously."