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Effective April 1, Medicaid will require all written prescriptions for outpatient drugs, including over the counter, to be on tamper-resistant prescription pads. Congress mandated the new requirement last year but 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 the prescription is 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:
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Prevents unauthorized copying of completed or blank prescription forms.
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Prevents erasure or modification of information written on the prescription form.
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Prevents the use of counterfeit prescription forms.
By Oct. 1, federal law specifies that the prescription pads must have ALL of the above traits. To avoid confusion, TMA, the American Medical Association, and pharmacists are asking states to require all three traits immediately. Otherwise, in a few months physicians could have to get new pads again, creating even more confusion.
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 and fraud prevention 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 DPS pads for Schedule II drugs.
You can order prescription pads designed for Texas from American Corporate Services and FileRx. Additional vendors are listed on the TMA Web site.
Last Published: 2/14/2008 Print this page
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