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Panelists say e-prescribing and shared records ease opioid management; Medicaid adds chronic pain to disease-management program
Summary
Panelists reported that electronic prescribing and shared imaging/records improve medication safety and continuity; a family physician who advises Montana Medicaid said chronic pain was added to Medicaid’s disease-management program effective March 1.
Panelists at the Missoula physician conference said health information technology — especially e-prescribing and shared imaging — has materially improved clinicians’ ability to manage controlled medications and to coordinate care across sites. Separately, a physician who advises Montana Medicaid said the state added chronic pain to its disease-management program.
“After one year of using it, [clinicians] said, ‘we would never manage this amount of medications if we didn't have this system,’ ” said Dr. Randall Seacrest, describing an electronic prescribing system used in his pain clinic. He and other panelists said the pharmacy-database function — one place to view all recent controlled‑substance prescriptions — reduces errors, improves safety and enables team-based follow-up.
Panelists also praised access to shared imaging (PACS) for reducing repeat visits and accelerating diagnosis. “Having access to PACS … reduces the visits to patients,” a panelist said; several clinicians said x-ray and EKG availability across facilities saves time and improves decision-making.
On payer and program changes, a family physician who identified herself only as Janice and said she is a medical adviser for Montana Medicaid told the panel: “As of March 1, one of the diseases that they added to their disease management is chronic pain, which shows a lot of foresight that they actually recognize it as a disease.” Janice described the Medicaid disease-management program as nurse‑led outreach with telephonic support to patients and encouragement for providers; she said it is a covered benefit and can support rural outreach and provider education.
Panelists noted costs and implementation work. One hospital told the panel it is still several months away from broad electronic medical records rollout and had undertaken a separate fundraising drive to meet the expense. Several speakers urged state support for pilot investments into interoperable platforms; State Auditor John Morrison (serving as the panel facilitator) said he had supported a bill to appropriate $3,000,000 to a state HIT task force that did not pass in the recent session.
Speakers warned about privacy and insurer use of data if records are widely shared, but most said clinical and safety benefits outweighed the concerns. They urged policymakers to consider pilot funding, technical assistance and privacy protections to accelerate adoption of e-prescribing, shared imaging and interoperable records in Montana.
