A prescription sent directly from the doctor to the pharmacy electronically — also known as an e-prescription — is nothing new. In New York, however, these electronic scripts are now required by law.

A new law in effect now mandates that health professionals use e-prescriptions. The move comes to prevent prescription slip forgery and to reduce errors that arise from illegible handwriting. It is also a way to fight painkiller abuse.

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New York is the first state to mandate this change. The law is part of the New York’s I-STOP law, which was adopted in 2012. The health department says the program has slashed the number of controlled-substance prescriptions from about 24.3 million in 2013 to 23.9 million last year.

“This reform will improve patient safety, reduce the number of fraudulent or stolen prescriptions and help combat prescription drug abuse across New York,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

“When it works, it’s seamless,” Dr. Michael T. Goldstein, New York County Medical Society president, told the Associated Press. “But there are circumstances where it doesn’t work, and patients suffer.”

There are a few exceptions that allow prescribers to use paper prescriptions, such as a prescription “that contains long or complicated directions.” And prescribers can use paper or phone prescriptions during emergencies. Another exception is for nursing homes: They can phone in prescriptions after hours. The state’s Senate also approved a plan that would exempt doctors from the law if they write very few prescriptions.

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The law initially was passed last year, but some providers had gotten extensions to it. Officials extended the implementation deadline to March 27, 2016, though some prescribers have filed for additional extensions.

Should E-scripts be Mandated?
According to Surescripts, a network for transmitting e-prescriptions, 47 percent of doctors in New York are enabled for electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS), compared to 8 percent nationwide. A year before, just 2 percent of doctors in New York were ready.

The New York law stipulates fines for doctors who do not comply. Minnesota has a similar e-prescription program, but the state does not issue fines to non-compliant doctors. And every state now allows e-prescribing.

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One of the biggest benefits, especially as the war on opioid use and abuse escalates, is this: The state’s I-STOP program requires doctors to look up patients before prescribing narcotics, said Dr. Joseph Maldonado, president of the Medical Society of New York.

“That has worked extremely well. That has actually cut down the number of inappropriate prescriptions by 90 percent,” he said.

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Maldonado supports the program but says he is not sure if it will improve the existing successes of the state’s I-STOP efforts. The law’s adoption also presents challenges. For instance, there could be errors when inputting information into an electronic system. “Errors can still take place,” he said.

Looking Forward
Despite glitches with the law, Maldonado believes the state will be able to work them out quickly. In the meantime, he told LifeZette that everyone needs to be realistic about the expectations for the law’s gaining adoption.

“New York has been at the forefront of trying to address the problem of opioid addiction, and part of that effort includes trying to cut down on the number of narcotic prescriptions that are written in the state,” he said. “The state got it right when it started with the I-STOP program.”

“We think more states will follow suit as the prescription drug abuse epidemic remains a huge problem in this country. States will continue to try to address abuse and fraud,” Doug Hirsch, co-CEO of GoodRx, told LifeZette.