Incentives Offered to Doctors for Using Electronic Prescriptions For Medicare Patients :

As of January 1, 2009 the federal government will give doctors an incentive when they send prescriptions electronically to a pharmacy instead of giving handwritten ones to patients. Only 10 percent of physicians currently transmit prescriptions to pharmacies electronically. The main culprit in the system's lack of use is the expense of buying and setting up the equipment and software necessary, which runs about $3,000 per doctor. In addition, it costs between $80 and $400 a month to maintain and operate a system.
To motivate physicians to incur the expense and move forward with technology, Congress has agreed to pay doctors just a little more for the next five years if they choose to implement and utilize the electronic system. These physicians will get an extra 2 percent on top of their reimbursement rates for treatment of Medicare patients in the years 2009 and 2010. The amount will decrease to 1 percent in 2011 and 2012 with only a 0.5 percent boost in 2013.