Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) initiatives have been underway nationwide for over five years, yet according to the December 2007 SureScripts National Progress Report on EPrescribing, physician adoption of e-prescribing has hit a plateau at under 10 percent. One of the greatest physician barriers to adoption is the Drug Enforcement Administration?s (DEA?s) ban on e-prescribing of controlled substances. Once considered insurmountable, staff at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is currently reviewing a draft rule, submitted by the DEA in February, that would ease the restriction and could potentially allow stakeholders to cross the ban off the e-prescribing barriers list.

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