Podcast: SureScripts COO Rick Ratliff on proposed Medicare e-Rx rule changes

Right before America effectively shut down for an Independence Day that fell on a Wednesday and surely prompted some very long weekends, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed some modifications to various Medicare payment and provider eligibility rules. Among the proposals is a plan to remove computer-generated faxing from the CMS definition of electronic prescribing.
alter the Medicare Part D electronic prescribing regulations.

This move is bound to make some e-prescribing advocates very happy, particularly on the pharmacy side and among the patient-safety crowd. Case in point is Rick Ratliff, chief operating officer of e-prescribing connectivity network SureScripts, who joins me for this podcast to discuss the CMS proposal and the future of e-prescribing.

Podcast details: Interview with SureScripts COO Rick Ratliff on proposed Medicare Part D e-prescribing regulations. MP3, 64 kbps, 10.2 MB, running time 22:14.

1:00 What SureScripts does
2:08 Fax exemption in existing rule
3:07 What CMS is proposing
4:02 Impact of the proposed change
4:26 What vendors might have to do
5:37 Lack of financial incentives in Medicare e-prescribing rules
6:35 Why it’s a “potentially enormous” change
7:45 Two-way communication in e-prescribing
8:35 Savings from efficiency gains
9:33 Private payers following the lead of CMS
10:00 True electronic prescribing vs. electronic faxing
11:30 Public comment period for the proposal
12:43 What SureScripts might tell CMS
13:22 How to encourage physicians to adopt e-prescribing
15:02 Physician attitudes toward patient suggestions
16:45 The tipping point
17:50 Is this a competitive battleground for pharmacies?
18:37 How retail pharmacies view e-prescribing
19:30 Effect of e-prescribing on patient and physician expectations
20:07 New SureScripts technology to report back to physicians on fill rates
21:25 E-prescribing effect on healthcare quality