A study conducted earlier this month by Surescripts showed electronic prescribing software could help boost patient adherence to medications administered by doctors, presumably because it enhances communication between all involved parties in the prescribing process.

Better communication may also help reduce medical errors. In a study published in The Lancet this week, researchers studied three different types of common medical errors and found that patients whose pharmacists actively participated in treatment processes were about one quarter to one half as likely to experience negative effects generated by those common mistakes.

Patients in the test group participated in the PINCER process – a pharmacist-led, information technology-based intervention. Whereas prescribers in the control group received simple feedback about patient risk factors, the patients in the PINCER group also met with their pharmacist face-to-face to receive feedback as to their medication habits. These parties also formed a plan to address any problems with a particular prescription.

"The intervention that we have developed will be suitable for implementation in the increasing number of countries where clinical records are now computerized and where the roles of pharmacists to monitor proactively for clinically important medication errors can be extended," researchers said.

E-prescribing may trigger and maintain this ongoing communication process between patients, doctors and pharmacists. This new technology ensures that all three parties are engaged in the prescribing process. When feedback is adequate and medication can be adjusted accordingly, the health of patients will improve, which also reduces overall medical costs.

Many patients are upset with the state's decision to revoke Mathur's license, as they have had to scramble to receive the medications from alternate sources since not all providers prescribe the painkillers and other drugs required by these patients. Should they not be able to receive medications from other providers, they could suffer additional medical problems.

"[The board's] reason for suspending [Mathur's license] right away is because he was a danger to the public," one patient told The Baltimore Sun. "The only people being affected are the patients. You're abandoned at this point."

Another problem related to switching doctors involves the transference of health records. Under HIPAA law, physicians are permitted to charge patients a "reasonable fee" to provide them with paper copies of their records. There is then usually a delay, during which time the patient could suffer negative health consequences.

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the closing of a physician's office or pharmacy, electronic medical records software and e-prescribing can simplify the process of transferring patients to a new care provider. In the past, paper records would need to be manually delivered to the new care provider or restarted altogether, both of which could lead to missing or lost information. Ultimately, the patient could suffer in this scenario. 

"I'll write you a prescription for Xanax," the doctor told the patient. "Just take one when you feel an attack coming on. One pill isn't going to send you back to the Garden of Eden."

According to Sack, who is also the CEO of Elements Behavioral Health, an addiction treatment program network, this incident articulates the danger of physicians not understanding the ramifications of addiction and how seriously past drug abuse should be taken when prescribing medications.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently referred to the problem of prescription drug abuse in America as an epidemic. Thus, Sack advocates for physicians to be educated as to best practices for prescribing former drug addicts certain medications. In some cases, if patients begin to show signs of prescription drug dependency or improper use, doctors may need to refer patients to drug abuse treatment facilities.

Doctors who continue to knowingly prescribe addictive medications to patients who are predisposed toward abusing these drugs are doing a disservice to both the patient and the entire medical community, which must subsequently treat those who are harmed by drugs, often at a high cost.

Even if doctors are inherently unaware of the addictive effects of certain medications, electronic prescribing software often will alert physicians if drugs could harm a patient. In the case of addicts, doctors should rely on e-prescribing programs to tell them the precise effects of a particular drug. They should also bolster their knowledge by asking the patient questions about his or her medication histories.

Toxicology results are not expected back for several weeks. Until then, news reports that prescription drugs were found in the hotel room in which Houston died cannot be used to make any assumptions about the singer's last moments.

"No matter what medication they may be taking, until we do a toxicology test and see the levels, we are not going to speculate," Los Angeles County coroner's office spokesman Ed Winter said in a statement earlier this week.

Various news outlets have reported that law enforcement officials said they found prescription drugs, including anti-depressant Xanax, in Houston's hotel room. Still, the amount of drugs collected were not considered to be excessive, calling into question theories that Houston overdosed on prescription drugs.

News outlets have also speculated that Houston may have been drinking the night of her death. Clare Kavin, an addiction specialist in Beverly Hills, told entertainment blog HollywoodLife that alcohol and Xanax both slow down breathing rates, so combining the two drugs could cause a person to stop breathing.

Houston's death serves as a reminder that prescription drugs, even when prescribed legally, can still cause negative health effects if not taken properly. Even though Houston did not seem to have a large quantity of prescription medications, it's possible the drugs could have reacted negatively with one another.

To help prevent overdoses, abuse and negative interactions, doctors should use e-prescribing programs to ensure patients are benefiting from medications.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently released the annual results of its seizures of counterfeit items for 2011. In all, CBP collected 25,000 shipments of counterfeit goods worth a total of $178.9 million. This year, CBP seized 44 percent more counterfeit health and safety materials than it did in 2010.

Accounting for the most seizures were counterfeit electronics products, followed by counterfeit drugs. Almost one in every 10 seizures was of a counterfeit drug. The CBP intercepted $16.9 million worth of counterfeit medications, possessing a retail value of $25.2 million.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautions that these drugs can be harmful to consumers because it has not tested them or mandated the processes for manufacturing them. Even if medications contain the proper ingredients, they could have been corrupted through improper storage.

"Counterfeit medicine is fake medicine. It may be contaminated or contain the wrong or no active ingredient," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "They could have the right active ingredient, but at the wrong dose. Counterfeit drugs are illegal and may be harmful to your health."

While e-prescribing is not likely to help catch counterfeit drugs once they enter the marketplace, the digital footprint of these medications could be tracked in order to more quickly alert consumers who may have received these drugs accidentally. In general, e-prescribing software can also help reduce instances of patient harm.

Some of the additional features that come with basic electronic medical records, such as e-prescribing and medical scheduling software, are ignored by healthcare facilities when they initially begin to embrace health IT. Whether these organizations plan to institute these systems when conditions are more favorable or they consider them to be extraneous, not enough facilities are making use of them, according to a report by American Medical News.

New York physician Rosemarie Nelson told the news source that some health IT upgrades can cost several thousand dollars to purchase and install. Facilities must also train staff as to best usage techniques, integrate these systems into current platforms and, in some cases, pay a monthly user fee. For some healthcare facilities, the time and money required to meet these demands is excessive, so they only adopt basic records-keeping systems.

Writing for InformationWeek Healthcare, Tony Cerrato supports the findings of the news report. He understands the myriad of obligations currently expected of healthcare facilities, but still approaches the issues from a business perspective, particularly when it comes to electronic prescribing software.

"E-prescribing is another [EMR] tool worth considering," Cerrato said. "Every clinician knows that handwritten scripts sometimes get lost in a sea of papers when patients walk out the door. When a practice fills those orders electronically directly from the office, it does away with that problem."

E-prescribing software is just one extra feature of health IT systems that medical facilities may consider using in order to reduce costs and enhance patient care.

Some physicians are less willing to prescribe painkillers to patients because they do not want to be implicated if a patient abuses the drugs or sells them to a third party. They must be more selective in their prescribing practices, which likely reduces instances of abuse, but as the same time, may be harmful to patients who have a legitimate need for these drugs.

One such individual, Mary Maston, told The Huffington Post that she had been able to receive pain medications for a rare kidney disorder throughout her time living in Tennessee, but unfortunately, when she moved to Florida in March 2011, her new doctors were not as forthcoming in prescribing her medications she claims she needs to function. Without those painkillers, she has needed to rely on emergency care to treat her condition.

"I always wait until the last possible second, until the pain is so unbearable I am in tears and can't walk," Maston told the news source. "I have a background in human resources, so I know [ER visits] drive up everyone's insurance costs. My husband literally carries me to the car to get me to the ER. This is no way to live."

Maston is correct that emergency room costs likely trump the costs of providing her with pain medications in the first place. If Florida had a more robust e-prescribing network, doctors may be more likely to prescribe painkillers to patients, since these programs track medication histories and could alert doctors if patients are receiving excessive amounts of a particular drug.

Senate Bill 5234 would build upon current temporary programs that collect these drugs from individuals who voluntarily give them up. Although these take-back locations are found in 17 of Washington's 39 counties, the bill would require drug companies to set up similar facilities across the state. The full senate has yet to vote on the bill.

For the most part, local governments have been supporting these isolated programs, but funding will likely not last. Proponents of a statewide program point to the successes of some local communities, such as the six counties that have collected 89,000 pounds of drugs since their inception.

Prescription drugs that enter the water supply have been found to harm sea life and infiltrate drinking water. A recent interview with TakeBackYourMeds.org, an organization in support of the dropoff location bill, cited a study by the Washington State Department of Ecology that found that medicines in the drinking water supplies of 24 metropolitan areas in Washington state.

"Why should we put more drugs into the environment?" State Senator Adam Kline, the bill's chief sponsor, told The Associated Press.

In addition to drug take-back programs, communities can keep better track of the medications prescribed by doctors through more widespread use of e-prescribing programs. Electronic prescribing software can help doctors recall patient medication histories to ensure they don't order too much of one drug for certain individuals.

Bolstering this fact is a recent study by California's health information exchange provider Cal eConnect, which found that e-prescribing efforts in the state have climbed significantly since 2007, when only 3 percent of physicians in the Golden State sent prescriptions electronically. Now, about 25 percent of prescribers use these methods, even though only 16 percent of all eligible medications are sent electronically to pharmacies.

"While much has been done to move California forward on e-prescribing, much more work is ahead," said Dr. Ron Jimenez, a Cal eConnect executive. "The collaborative environment among health plans, providers, and pharmacies is impressive and momentum is building toward improved, safer care for patients."

Another area of concern for the Cal eConnect researchers was the fact that only 10 percent of appointments with physicians involved a check of a patient's medication history, while just 18 percent included an in-depth search for alternate medications and possible negative effects of a certain drug.

These limitations reveal possible hurdles that healthcare providers need to overcome in 2012 for health IT platforms to be effective. Nationally, there are also areas to build upon. According to Surescripts, as of 2010, 34 percent of medical offices rout prescriptions electronically. While more prescribers are using e-prescribing to check medication histories and prescription benefits, there is still room for improvement.

Healthcare providers in California and across the nation are likely to benefit from e-prescribing if they are able to properly educate  staff members as to best practices regarding these emerging tools. After all, e-prescribing is only effective if its features are used properly to help reduce prescribing errors and enhance patient health.

While the nation as a whole has seen prescription drug abuse rates rise precipitously in recent years, Texas specifically has been plagued by higher abuse rates that are partially attributable to the government in neighboring Louisiana tightening down on its own doctors who prescribe medications recklessly.

For years, Texas has maintained a database that relies solely on paper records to track prescription histories of patients and doctors. This summer, however, the department expects to convert the database to a digital platform, thereby eliminating the gap that once existed between a doctor requesting a patient's prescription history and a subsequent prescription being written.

This new database, coupled with e-prescribing initiatives that have allowed physicians and researchers to compile data that is integral to deterring the practice of doctor shopping should help reduce abuse rates. Lawmakers also hope better education of patients will curtail drug abuse.

"A lot of folks think, 'I'm not a drug abuser because I got this from a pharmacy,'" State Senator Tommy Williams said.

Texas lawmakers are also deciding whether to compel both pharmacists and physicians to check the online database before prescribing a medication for a particular patient.

According to Williams, 8.6 Texans die from prescription drug overdoses per 100,000 residents of the state. In order to further reduce these deaths, electronic prescribing software should be implemented in more pharmacies across the country, as medical facilities that successfully integrate these systems are more likely to engage in safe prescribing practices.