Historic Milestone in Healthcare IT Demonstrated Today: DrFirst Showcases Nation's First System for E-prescribing Controlled Substances
Rockville, MD - 6/3/10: Today, DrFirst demonstrated the nation's first end-to-end electronic controlled substance prescribing system at the 2010 AHRQ Annual Health IT Grantee and Contractor meeting in Washington, DC. This fully operational system was developed under an AHRQ funded grant in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Berkshire Health Systems, Inc., eRx Network, and Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management and contains the necessary security features required to operate under a special waiver from the DEA.
"This project is very important to both the quality community and the law enforcement community in creating the ability to reconcile the electronically prescribed controlled substances [EPCS] prescribed with the controlled drug dispensed," said Peter N. Kaufman, MD, Chief Medical Officer of DrFirst. "This project is laying the groundwork for improved information flow, security, safety, diversion avoidance, and overall practice efficiency making that possible for all providers nationwide."
The specific aims of the project included developing and verifying an e-prescribing system that would allow safe and secure electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS), linking the system with the existing Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring Program for Schedule II controlled substances, conducting evaluations of process and outcomes (including improvements in patient care, risk reduction, patient and clinician benefits, patient safety, and confidentiality), and disseminating the project findings.
"The DEA has carefully balanced the need for security, privacy, and accountability with the current capabilities of the healthcare IT industry. The ongoing EPCS project in Massachusetts established that both the technology and the processes exist to make true electronic prescribing of controlled substances possible," said Thomas E. Sullivan, MD, Chief Strategic Officer of DrFirst.
As demonstrated in today's session by Dr. Sullivan, past president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, DrFirst and its collaborators focused on keeping the prescribing process simple and within the providers' existing workflow while introducing multiple validation checks, supporting the NCPDP "SCRIPT" standard, meeting DEA requirements, and maintaining the long-standing responsibilities associated with dispensing controlled drugs. DrFirst demonstrated the use of a "crypto key", paired with a unique password, to provide the necessary two-factor authentication for a provider to transmit a controlled drug electronically. A cryptographic key is a security token designed to be inserted into a computer's USB port. A crypto key was provided to each physician in the project for use each time a controlled drug prescription was written. As with regular prescriptions, the first step in writing for a controlled substance is for a provider to log into DrFirst's Rcopia and prepare the prescription.
To transmit the prescription, the provider must insert his crypto key into the computer's USB port and then enter his "signature" (a special numeric password). Once the key is in place and the signature is verified, the provider may transmit the prescription to a participating pharmacy. The prescription is transmitted through a series of secure networks as it touches servers from DrFirst, the DEA, and eRx Network before it reaches its final destination - the pharmacy. Using this method of delivery, DrFirst binds each physician to a unique crypto key and each individual prescription to its vendor system. This level of security, coupled with appropriate audit logs, allows detailed reports to be generated and made available to the DEA, pharmacy boards, and local and federal law enforcement authorities.
"Fortunately, much of the DEA workflow was actually based on the requirements for the Massachusetts EPCS study, on which our screens are based, so there is little change needed. We have already added most, if not all, of the required prescriber audit capabilities as part of our preparation for CCHIT certification. And we are evaluating Certification Authorities to find one that is stable, flexible, and cost-effective to recommend to our users," said G. Cameron Deemer, President of DrFirst. "Our focus now is to bring these capabilities to the more than 100 EMR, practice management, and hospital information system vendors who partner with DrFirst for e-prescribing."
While e-prescribing of controlled substances became "legal" on June 1, 2010, it still is not technically "possible" on a national scale. Currently, there is no industry-wide infrastructure available to convey controlled substance prescriptions to pharmacies, nor are pharmacies universally ready to accept them. DrFirst anticipates that the pharmacies will begin accepting electronic prescriptions of controlled-drugs in late 4th quarter, 2010. In addition, the recently released DEA regulations require controlled-drug e-prescriptions to include a "flag" that the prescription was authorized using 2-factor authentication, and NCPDP is identifying a field to use as that flag until a dedicated field can be added and approved for use.
DrFirst will post notification on our Twitter and blog accounts early next week when the video of today's demonstration is posted live at www.youtube.com/drfirst.
About DrFirst
DrFirst has been a Surescripts Gold Solution Provider for three consecutive years with its award-winning, Rcopia electronic prescription management system. Founded in 2000, DrFirst creates innovative services targeted to physicians in both ambulatory and acute care environments. DrFirst solutions are widely integrated with over 100 practice management and electronic medical records systems through its "Open Borders" program, and the company counts among its client base not only physician practices, but also major health plans, health systems, hospitals and EHR vendors. DrFirst partners with Surescripts for pharmacy connectivity, health plan information, and patient medication history. For more information, contact sales@drfirst.com or visit www.drfirst.com. For more DrFirst news, follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/drfirst and at http://blog.drfirst.com.
Rockville, MD - 6/3/10: Today, DrFirst demonstrated the nation's first end-to-end electronic controlled substance prescribing system at the 2010 AHRQ Annual Health IT Grantee and Contractor meeting in Washington, DC. This fully operational system was developed under an AHRQ funded grant in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Berkshire Health Systems, Inc., eRx Network, and Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management and contains the necessary security features required to operate under a special waiver from the DEA.
"This project is very important to both the quality community and the law enforcement community in creating the ability to reconcile the electronically prescribed controlled substances [EPCS] prescribed with the controlled drug dispensed," said Peter N. Kaufman, MD, Chief Medical Officer of DrFirst. "This project is laying the groundwork for improved information flow, security, safety, diversion avoidance, and overall practice efficiency making that possible for all providers nationwide."
The specific aims of the project included developing and verifying an e-prescribing system that would allow safe and secure electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS), linking the system with the existing Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring Program for Schedule II controlled substances, conducting evaluations of process and outcomes (including improvements in patient care, risk reduction, patient and clinician benefits, patient safety, and confidentiality), and disseminating the project findings.
"The DEA has carefully balanced the need for security, privacy, and accountability with the current capabilities of the healthcare IT industry. The ongoing EPCS project in Massachusetts established that both the technology and the processes exist to make true electronic prescribing of controlled substances possible," said Thomas E. Sullivan, MD, Chief Strategic Officer of DrFirst.
As demonstrated in today's session by Dr. Sullivan, past president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, DrFirst and its collaborators focused on keeping the prescribing process simple and within the providers' existing workflow while introducing multiple validation checks, supporting the NCPDP "SCRIPT" standard, meeting DEA requirements, and maintaining the long-standing responsibilities associated with dispensing controlled drugs. DrFirst demonstrated the use of a "crypto key", paired with a unique password, to provide the necessary two-factor authentication for a provider to transmit a controlled drug electronically. A cryptographic key is a security token designed to be inserted into a computer's USB port. A crypto key was provided to each physician in the project for use each time a controlled drug prescription was written. As with regular prescriptions, the first step in writing for a controlled substance is for a provider to log into DrFirst's Rcopia and prepare the prescription.
To transmit the prescription, the provider must insert his crypto key into the computer's USB port and then enter his "signature" (a special numeric password). Once the key is in place and the signature is verified, the provider may transmit the prescription to a participating pharmacy. The prescription is transmitted through a series of secure networks as it touches servers from DrFirst, the DEA, and eRx Network before it reaches its final destination - the pharmacy. Using this method of delivery, DrFirst binds each physician to a unique crypto key and each individual prescription to its vendor system. This level of security, coupled with appropriate audit logs, allows detailed reports to be generated and made available to the DEA, pharmacy boards, and local and federal law enforcement authorities.
"Fortunately, much of the DEA workflow was actually based on the requirements for the Massachusetts EPCS study, on which our screens are based, so there is little change needed. We have already added most, if not all, of the required prescriber audit capabilities as part of our preparation for CCHIT certification. And we are evaluating Certification Authorities to find one that is stable, flexible, and cost-effective to recommend to our users," said G. Cameron Deemer, President of DrFirst. "Our focus now is to bring these capabilities to the more than 100 EMR, practice management, and hospital information system vendors who partner with DrFirst for e-prescribing."
While e-prescribing of controlled substances became "legal" on June 1, 2010, it still is not technically "possible" on a national scale. Currently, there is no industry-wide infrastructure available to convey controlled substance prescriptions to pharmacies, nor are pharmacies universally ready to accept them. DrFirst anticipates that the pharmacies will begin accepting electronic prescriptions of controlled-drugs in late 4th quarter, 2010. In addition, the recently released DEA regulations require controlled-drug e-prescriptions to include a "flag" that the prescription was authorized using 2-factor authentication, and NCPDP is identifying a field to use as that flag until a dedicated field can be added and approved for use.
DrFirst will post notification on our Twitter and blog accounts early next week when the video of today's demonstration is posted live at www.youtube.com/drfirst.
About DrFirst
DrFirst has been a Surescripts Gold Solution Provider for three consecutive years with its award-winning, Rcopia electronic prescription management system. Founded in 2000, DrFirst creates innovative services targeted to physicians in both ambulatory and acute care environments. DrFirst solutions are widely integrated with over 100 practice management and electronic medical records systems through its "Open Borders" program, and the company counts among its client base not only physician practices, but also major health plans, health systems, hospitals and EHR vendors. DrFirst partners with Surescripts for pharmacy connectivity, health plan information, and patient medication history. For more information, contact sales@drfirst.com or visit www.drfirst.com. For more DrFirst news, follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/drfirst and at http://blog.drfirst.com.