drchrono Inc., an EHR, practice management, revenue cycle management and medical API platform on iPad, iPhone and web, announced that its EHR app is now certified for Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS) on iPad, iPhone and web.
EPCS within the drchrono EHR app now allows physicians to write and transmit electronic prescriptions for controlled substances to pharmacies, and for pharmacies to easily receive and dispense these prescriptions to patients.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. states worked together to legalize the use of Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances. Controlled substances are defined as drugs that have potential for abuse and dependence.
Prior to drchrono’s EHR ePrescribing app, doctors either had to use pen and paper to write out patient prescriptions for controlled substances or use clunky, antiquated web systems, not designed from the ground up to manage prescriptions. Paper prescriptions made it easier for an individual to game the system and go to multiple doctors to get handwritten prescriptions for controlled substances such as Vicodin or Percocet.
With the digitization of the prescription pad, which now includes controlled substances, prescriptions are sent to pharmacies electronically over a secure network complete with patient history, making it much more difficult to manipulate the system and obtain controlled substances from multiple physicians who also now become part of the patient’s record. Now doctors can send these prescriptions for controlled substances right from their iPhone or iPad through a native app built specifically for e-prescriptions using a mobile workflow that makes it a much smoother, more seamless experience.
For patients, EPCS also eliminates the hassle of keeping track of paper and saves time in check out since the prescriptions do not have to also be confirmed by phone from a pharmacist calling a physician. Physicians register with the DEA and obtain a DEA number for prescribing controlled substances. Raising the bar on security, drchrono provides two-factor authentication for doctors to log-in. The drchrono platform was certified by Infogard, to ensure proper creating, signing, and refilling of controlled substance prescriptions.
“We are making it possible for physicians to quickly and securely prescribe controlled substances and dramatically improve care for their sickest patients. For example, Vicodin and other pain medications that were once only allowed to be ordered with a written paper prescription can now be processed directly with a few taps,” said Daniel Kivatinos, COO and Co-founder of drchrono in a statement. “It is exciting to be paving the way, getting certified as the first EPCS enabled prescription native iOS app to send controlled substances in the U.S.”
