E-Prescriptions Shouldn’t be a Painful Process

I wanted to compliment the recent work of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in putting pressure on the Drug Enforcement Administration to move forward on new rules to allow physicians to electronically prescribe controlled substances to best meet the needs of patients. But it is also important to remember that we need to remain vigilant that all our federal agencies continue to keep the patient’s best interests as the primary driving force.

Cancer survivors are well aware that disease is more than just a diagnosis and treatment. The disease is compounded by a host of quality of life issues -with pain and pain management being at the forefront. And yet the DEA’s apparent reluctance to address and secure e-prescriptions as a viable approach for prescribing scheduled drugs comes at a great cost to the quality of life of many cancer survivors and other Americans. We live at a time that not only can electronic medicine be performed safely and securely, but that doing so reduces costs and improves patient quality of life.

So while the DEA has made an “encouraging” step in the right direction, it is important for us to support the efforts of representatives such as Senator Whitehouse in making sure the agencies move in both a responsible and timely manner that puts that patients needs at the front. I hope that others out there will continue to watch this unfold and encourage their representatives to make sure that e-prescriptions and other types of Health IT receive the high priority and attention they rightfully deserve.