Rcopia 4

Our e-Prescribe partner, DrFirst, recently certified us for Rcopia 4 and you can find us doing the happy dance in our programming cave! Of course, along with the certification comes a lot of behind-the-scenes work so we'll stop dancing and get back to our computers and start laboring away at getting all our AuroraEHR clients updated and brought into the Rcopia 4 fold.

Many of the new features are a bit on the wonky side, like complying with CMS Script 2017 mandates and deadlines. However, Script 2017 is kind of a big deal as there is a January 1, 2020 deadline attached to compliance with the new requirements. DrFirst has already been certified for Script 2017, well in advance of the January 2020 compliance date.There are several other more obvious features in Rcopia 4 and we'll mention a few of them here.

Rcopia 4 offers Electronic Prior Authorization (hereafter referred to as EPA, because we all like acronyms) which will streamline prescription and renewal processes,  and avoid that always unpleasant situation where a patient runs out of medication and has to wait (without medications) for an authorization.

Prescription drug abuse has become a thing over the last decade or so. Accordingly, many states have implemented prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) databases, each with different requirements, layouts, and technologies. Lately, the federal government has regulated electronic prescriptions for controlled substances (EPCS) in an attempt to combat the opioid epidemic. While compliance with EPCS is not mandatory, it nonetheless cuts down on prescription abuse by eliminating paper prescriptions. More and more pharmacies are using EPCS and it's the wave of the future. At any rate, DrFirst has implemented the EPCS and PDMP (for all states that have them) requirements and features thereof in Rcopia 4. (For DrFirst's interactive map of PDMP and EPCS status for each state, click on this link).

We will be contacting our Rcopia users one by one to implement the switch-over from Rcopia 3 to Rcopia 4. We will also work with DrFirst to provide training and support as we integrate the new version of Rcopia.

With the ever increasing complexity in prescribing medications, a program such as Rcopia 4 is a valuable asset. If you feel that e-prescribing might help your practice, contact Client Services about upgrading to AuroraEHR.