Florida, Michigan launch electronic drug, health programs
Sunshine State monitoring system targets ‘doctor
shopping’; Microsoft’s HealthVault key to link of Rx, MD
data in Wolverine State.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) signed into law on Thursday a bill
mandating a prescription drug monitoring program for the state. In a
separate development, the State of Michigan has partnered with Microsoft
to link physician and pharmacy records.
The new law, passed in April by the Florida legislature, makes it
mandatory for physicians and pharmacists to record patient prescriptions
for most drugs in a state database, according to an article in the Miami
Herald; it brings Florida in line with 38 other states with similar
programs.
With the enactment of this legislation, Florida hopes to make it
easier to identify patients who attempt to obtain multiple prescriptions
of pain or other medication by going to several different
physicians—a practice known as "doctor shopping."
Under the new system, pain clinics are required to register with the
state department of health and must undergo annual inspections.
Legislators had been pushing for the monitoring system for the past 7
years.
The Michigan system results from a collaboration of the Michigan
State Medical Society, Microsoft, Compuware subsidiary Covisint, and a
San Diego–based pharmacy benefits manager, MedImpact Healthcare
Systems. According to an article in Healthcare IT News, "The partnership
will allow patients to store their individual health data, or their
whole family's health record, in one location at no cost. HealthVault
will offer patients complete control over their electronic health data
with the option of sharing it with their physicians and other health
care providers. Patients can access data from their physicians, health
plans, and pharmacies, as well as upload information from medical
devices that monitor a number of factors including heart rate, blood
pressure, and blood sugar."
Sources
Miami
Herald article
Earlier
Miami Herald article on Forida legislation
Healthcare
IT News article
Carli Richard (crichard@aphanet.org)
Posted June 19, 2009
|
