The Academy submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed standards for electronic prescribing under Medicare Part D. The key points contained within the letter include:

•  AMCP agreed with CMS that the standard for formulary and benefits and the standard for medication history be implemented.
•  The Academy agreed with CMS’s proposal that the standard for structured and codified SIG, the standard for prior authorization, the standard for clinical drug terminology (RxNorm) and the prescription fill notification standard not be implemented at this time.
• AMCP recommended that CMS adopt the updated National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) SCRIPT 10.5 as a final standard instead of NCPDP SCRIPT 8.1.
• The Academy did not agree that the NPI should be made a standard in e-prescribing because it does not contain all necessary prescriber identification required for e-prescribing.
• The Academy recommended that CMS give top priority to encouraging DEA to allow e-prescribing for controlled substances. 

To view the full document, click here.