Establishes an electronic health records and electronic prescribing initiative

10 Co-sponsors

• Eric Adams
• Joseph P. Addabbo Jr.
• Ruben Diaz
• Ruth Hassell-Thompson
• Shirley L. Huntley
• Craig M. Johnson
• George Onorato
• Suzi Oppenheimer
• Diane J. Savino
• Toby Ann Stavisky

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing an electronic health records and electronic prescribing initiative; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

Purpose

Establishes an electronic health records and electronic prescribing initiative.

Summary of provisions

Adds a new article 10 to the public health law directing the office of health information technology to establish an electronic health records and electronic prescribing initiative program to provide incentives for office-based physicians and small, independent pharmacies to adopt computerized records and prescribing pursuant to standards and criteria established by the office. The program shall be allocated $5,000,000 in its first year and be subject to budget appropriation in years 2-4. The program will sunset four years after its enactment.

Justification

Recent studies have estimated that 2-3 million errors occur each year at retail pharmacies around the U.S., including approximately 210,000 in New York State, but the vast majority of errors are never reported to state licensing authorities because pharmacies are not required to report their errors and consumers are not aware of the need to report such mistakes to anyone other than the pharmacy. While some errors, such as providing the wrong quantity of a drug, pose no immediate physical risks to a consumer, receiving the wrong drug or the wrong dosage of the correct drug can cause life-threatening side effects and unintended drug interactions. If even 1 in 1000 of prescription errors results in a life or health-threatening condition, a rate supported by multiple studies, then up to 200 New York lives can be saved each year and untold millions of dollars in healthcare savings realized by increasing the accuracy of patient health records and reducing the potential for deadly miscommunications between doctors and pharmacies.

Legislative history

2008 - S8778 - Referred to Rules

Fiscal implications

$5,000,000 shall be appropriated to fund the program.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed repealed 4 years after such date; provided, however, that any rules and regulations necessary for the timely implementation of this act on its effective date shall be promulgated on or before such date.