New Prescribing Mandate for Controlled Substances Coming Soon

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IMPORTANT UPDATE: On March 13, 2015, Governor Cuomo signed a one-year extension of the e-prescribing mandate that will require all prescriptions to be submitted electronically. The mandate will now go into effect on March 27, 2016. For more information, please click here.

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A new state regulation goes into effect on March 27, 2015, requiring all medication prescriptions to be electronically prescribed. This requirement affects all medication prescribers, including physicians and dentists. Here is some additional information on this new regulation, published in MSSNY’s e-newsletter:

Prescribing Mandate of Controlled Substances Effective On March 27, 2015

E-prescribing will be required for all New York State prescriptions, including controlled substances, on March 27, 2015. While the E-prescribing mandate goes into effect on March 27, 2015, physicians who comply with these regulations may now begin to electronically prescribe controlled substances (EPCS), as long as their EPCS systems are DEA certified. Physicians must register their EPCS software with NYS Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE). Transmission of a prescription of a controlled substance using software that is not DEA certified will fail. The prescription will not be filled. A waiver process from the E-prescribing mandate has been established under regulations. A waiver is only good for one year, and physicians will need to apply directly to the Commissioner of Health.  BNE officials have indicated that they are not currently taking any waiver applications as the law is not yet fully in effect.  

The Department of Health “Practitioner EPCS Registration” form can be found here.

The Frequently Asked Questions can be found here.

Additional information can be found at the department’s website here.

The E-prescribing of controlled substances was required under the passage of the I-STOP law in 2012.