Hi Solodocmom,
Thanks for your post, and I am glad to get feedback from someone with so much experience. I agree that ePrescribing is extremely helpful and will be incredible once controlled substances can be prescibed "without having to go through airport security" to do so.
The two areas I would disagree on are the following:
One is printing controlled scripts. Printing to our TSP800 printer has many advantages over writing scripts FOR US. First, it is legible. Second, each doctor has their own group. My guess is family practitioners have many patients on chronic pain meds while pediatricians have many patient on ADHD meds. It is so much more accurate for us to be able to simply click on Concerta 54 mg as it is written and print it knowing everything will be the same, and we will likely not forget to write ADHD and the actual written number. I generally walk patients up to the front desk and my receptionist always has these scripts off the printer and in between the sliding glass doors backwards after she has looked them over to insure accuracy. 99% of the time I can grab them, check them for accuracy, and sign them and hand them to the patient.
The other advantage is that given the 24 hour rule (which is broken at times), the MA has printed every script and they are waiting to be signed in the morning.
The second one is the "What is the problem?" The problem is my patients have been exposed to ePrescribing for six months and not eight years. Our pharmacists not much longer. Our patients aren't well versed in telling the pharmacies their scripts were eRxd. And, if they call us back, the same script could take just as long if not longer.
So, all I am doing is what you probably need eight years ago. Educating my patients.
