|
Effective April 1, Medicaid will require all written prescriptions for outpatient drugs, including those sold over the counter, to be on tamper-resistant prescription pads. Congress mandated the new requirement last year, though temporarily postponed implementation until April 1 to allow more time for states to respond.
The requirement does not apply to prescriptions submitted to the pharmacy via fax, e-prescribing, or telephone, or within long-term care facilities or hospitals where prescriptions are handled by a physician order. As long as the patient does not physically handle the prescription, the requirement does not apply.
The federal law specifies that by April 1, physicians and other prescribers must use pads that have at least one of these characteristics:
- Prevent unauthorized copying of completed or blank prescription forms.
- Prevent erasure or modification of information written on the prescription form.
- Prevent the use of counterfeit prescription forms.
By Sept. 1, prescription pads must have all of the above traits. To avoid confusion, TMA, the American Medical Association, and pharmacists are asking states to immediately require all three traits. Otherwise, in a few months, physicians would potentially have to get new pads, thus creating confusion. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is considering the request.
TMA also encourages members to use the prescription pads for all their patients, not just Medicaid. The cost of these pads has dropped considerably and is now comparable to regular prescription pads. From a risk management perspective, using these pads is prudent. TMA believes using these pads for all patients will avoid confusion in high-volume practices regarding which pad should be used for which patient.
The new requirement does not relieve physicians of using the approved Department of Public Safety pads for Schedule II drugs.
For a list of approved tamper-resistant prescription pad vendors, click here.
Action, Feb. 1, 2008
Last Published: 8/18/2009 Print this page
|