Congress: No More Scribbled Scrips, Doc

Senators from both sides of the aisle are pushing doctors away from their prescription pads and towards electronic prescribing, the Chicago Tribune reports. Politicians and lobbyists hope the new system will cut down on mis-filled prescriptions and harmful, but avoidable, drug interactions.

Some doctors have been reluctant to embrace the technology, as it still very expensive; a bill now in the Senate hopes to smooth the transition by ensuring extra Medicare payments to doctors who adopt the system, and penalizing those that don’t. (More doctor stories.)