WASHINGTON – After a series of failed attempts to stall a 10.6 percent Medicare physician pay cut, Congress approved a veto-proof fix Wednesday night.

The bill includes a 2 percent incentive for physicians who use electronic prescribing starting in 2009. It also includes a 2 percent pay cut for Medicare-participating physicians who do not adopt e-prescribing by 2012.

"With this bill, legislators are wisely applying the federal government's leverage as the nation's largest healthcare insurer to accelerate the adoption of e-prescribing," said J.P. Little, CEO of SureScripts-RxHub. "Today, more than 70 percent of all retail and mail order pharmacies are using e-prescriptions compared to 6 percent of physicians."

Little and co-CEO Rick Ratliff called the bill "one of the single most important steps ever taken" to close the gap between physicians and pharmacies. "Offering physicians direct incentives to both acquire and use e-prescribing technology is a proven approach to boosting the rates of e-prescribing," they said.

The e-prescribing measures are part of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, H.R. 6331, which will halt the July 1 physician pay cut under Medicare for the rest of 2008 and provide a 1.1 percent pay increase in 2009.