Compliance with the July 1 Electronic Prescribing Law Can Also Mean Convenience

By Robert McDermott
From the Spring 2023 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association

On July 1, Colorado dentists will be required to electronically prescribe Schedule II, III and IV controlled substances. This law builds on the 2018 mandate requiring prescribers to check the

Colorado Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) prior to a second fill of any opioid in certain circumstances.  These two laws combined are intended to continue to reduce the number of opioid-related deaths across the state and U.S.

The laws, and improvements in the functionality of ePrescribing software, have moved many medical and dental practices to make the switch to electronic prescribing for every medication for both compliance and convenience.

Why Your Practice Needs ePrescription Software that Improves Your Workflow

There’s a pretty easy way to tell if your practice needs ePrescription software that not only provides compliance with the law, but also makes a case for ePrescribing all medications, not just those required by law.

Are you looking for ways to:

• Improve your efficiency?
• Increase medication adherence?
• Cut costs?
• Improve prescription accuracy and safety?
• Save your patients time and effort?
• Protect your practice from liability issues and concerns?

In short, if you could work faster and safer, yet still access all the information needed to write more-informed prescriptions, would you?

Most practices have similar goals and it’s rare that a single solution can help you do all of that. Even though there are a wide range of options on the market, there is high-standard ePrescription software that can achieve your goals. That’s why choosing the right solution for your practice can make a significant difference in the benefits you realize.

First and foremost, to write ePrescriptions dental providers will need ePrescription software. After entering all relevant patient and prescription information, the prescription is sent to the patient’s pharmacy. But, that’s not all. While it can be that straightforward, you’ll want to vet the various software options on the market to find a solution that includes:

• Integrating with existing practice software
• Identifying and alerting to interactions and contraindications
• Autofilling patient information to streamline and prevent duplicate entries
• Saving prescriptions and pharmacies to speed up entries
• Connecting to a vast network of pharmacies
• Providing up-to-date drug directory with instant access
• Providing access to patient prescription history regardless of prescriber
• Cloud flexibility – securely prescribe from anywhere

ePrescription software provides the seamless connection between your dental office and pharmacies to facilitate quick and easy filling of prescriptions necessary to deliver the care your patients need and deserve.For example, some ePrescription software solutions are bound to server-based onsite practice management systems and only allow ePrescribing from a desktop computer, limiting the efficiency and speed. Others only allow you to access ePrescribing from an app on your smartphone. The highest-performing ePrescribing options are cloud based, allowing you to ePrescribe on any computer, tablet or phone, from any location and offer features within the softwares for safer, more accurate prescribing.

How to Improve Your Dental Practice’s PDMP Process
Similarly, some solutions still require you to log in to the Colorado PDMP separately from your software. One of the biggest complaints from providers is that entering patient information may take up to 50 clicks and anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes to get information. As a result of this delay, providers, even required by law to check the PDMP, may not be adhering to the mandate.

That doesn’t need to be the norm though. Electronic prescribing software that seamlessly integrates with the Colorado PDMP, allows you to check a patient’s controlled substance prescription history in compliance with state law. There are a few high-efficiency ePrescribing options on the market that also keep a record, date and time stamp of every check in case of an allegation or audit of your practice.

In order to get the most comprehensive data and make significant and meaningful progress in combating prescription drug abuse, databases are a powerful tool only when used.

Don’t Wait to Choose Your ePrescribing Solution

Now is the time to make sure you are not just complying with the new ePrescribing law, but are using it to catalyze your clinical workflow. They are not all created equally by any means, so do your due diligence based on features that help save you time and effort while enhancing patient care.

Robert McDermott is the president and CEO of iCoreConnect.

CDA Enterprises endorses iCoreRx for electronic prescribing. Book a demo of iCoreRx ePrescribing software today at iCoreConnect.com/Co14 or call 888-810-7706. The iCoreConnect team personally guides you through the entire process of getting registered and set up to ePrescribe. CDA members receive a 43% special discount on iCoreRx.