As the deadline looms for physicians to switch to solely electronic prescriptions, several New York state legislators are aiming to push back the date.
As it stands, all prescriptions must be electronically prescribed after March 27, 2015, but State Sen. Kemp Hannon has called for that date to be delayed by a year.
Mr. Hannon, who chairs the New York Senate Committee on Health said many vendors related to e-prescribing narcotics have yet to be certified by the Drug Enforcement Administration, a key step in the shift to e-prescriptions. He blamed the DEA for moving "slowly in certifying vendors who are authorized to transmit electronic prescriptions for controlled substances."
Mr. Hannon said the delay would help facilitate a smoother transition to solely e-prescriptions. New York has been receptive to the federal implementations of healthcare reform, including accepting the Medicare coverage expansion funds and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's affirmation of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the law in 2012.