Electronic prescribing has gone from virtually nothing several years ago to over 100,000 regular e-prescribers nationwide, according to a recent study, but more is needed if the practice is to become ubiquitous in the U.S.

That includes pushing the Drug Enforcement Administration to pass meaningful regulations that will allow e-prescribing of controlled substances, and making sure the definition of the "meaningful use" constraint for health IT funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) requires the actual use of e-prescribing.

Those are conclusions of a "national progress report" by SureScripts, which operates the largest e-prescribing network in the U.S.

ARRA stimulus funds will be important for the wider adoption of e-prescribing, according to SureScripts. Prescribers working in small and medium-sized practices handle around 90 percent of all patient visits but have the least resources to pay for e-prescribing systems, according to its report.

While the recent growth shows that the steps taken by policymakers, prescribers, payers, pharmacies and others hare having an impact, "swift and specific action is required by the U.S. to achieve mainstream adoption and use of e-prescribing," said Harry Totonis, president and chief executive of Surescripts.

At the end of last year there were 74,000 active e-prescribers around the country, the study said, compared to just 16,000 in 2006. And those numbers jumped by more than 60 percent in the first quarter of 2009 alone.

Nevertheless, Surescripts said, that still means that only 10 percent of eligible prescriptions are routed electronically. To boost them even more means also working on awareness and education of e-prescribing and providing financial assistance and incentives, as well as pushing for the changes to DEA regulations and ARRA language.