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05/14/2012 Poverty and Health: A Connection We Can't Ignore
04/30/2012 Cardiac Care - A Case Study in Practice Variation
04/16/2012 One Courageous Woman
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As we continue to focus on health care spending, it is important to look at the tools we’ve tried already and learn from our experience – especially our mistakes.

Many of those working to improve health care in America have advocated for the use of electronic prescribing as an important tool for improving patient safety and moderating health care cost trends. A recent report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) documents abuses in the Medicare drug benefit that underline the potential value of electronic prescribing tools. According to the GAO report, some beneficiaries were able to obtain more than a year’s worth of narcotics by “shopping” different doctors. Electronic prescribing tools can enable health plans, physicians, and pharmacists to detect doctor-shopping, and assure that multiple prescriptions are not filled for the same condition within a given time period. Such an approach can both protect the health of patients who may receive duplicate prescriptions in error, and prevent fraud and abuse by those who seek prescription drugs for non-medical purposes.