Opioid Treatment For Sleep Disorder Did Not Consider Patient’s Overall Medication Risks
This case study was made available to MIEC through our partnership with CRICO. It was written by Barbara Szeidler, RN, BS, LNC, CPHQ, CPPS, CRICO Description A 38-year-old woman with a history of suicide attempts and an Ativan prescription from her psychiatrist, dies of an overdose after being prescribed Oxycodone by a sleep specialist. Key Lessons Patients with complex histories and needs benefit from ongoing coordination among caregivers. Selection of opioids for treatment requires patient-specific clinical scrutiny. When prescribing opioids, assessing the risks of all medications the patient may be taking, and close monitoring, is critical to patient safety. Clinicians...
DEA Extends Covid-19 Telehealth Prescribing Flexibilities for Another Year.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in concert with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing a third extension of telemedicine flexibilities for the prescribing of controlled medications, through December 31, 2025. A DEA-registered practitioner can prescribe a schedule II-V controlled substance to a patient using telemedicine without the need for an in-person medical evaluation, as long as the prescription(s) are for a legitimate medical need, and within the course and scope of the prescriber’s medical practice. As you may recall, the DEA extended the COVID flexibilities through 2024 while it worked on a revised set of rules, which were to...
DEA Likely to Further Extend Flexibilities on Controlled Substances and Telehealth Prescribing Beyond 2024
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the provision of medical care through telehealth increased by 154%, and much of that increase occurred in behavioral health. This trend, combined with COVID risk mitigation strategies and temporary flexibilities in licensure and regulatory requirements, resulted in substantial growth in virtual-only medical practices. In the field of behavioral health, temporary flexibilities allowing telehealth-only prescribing of controlled substances has allowed these practices to flourish by allowing them to treat a full spectrum of conditions through remote-only care. However, as the COVID pandemic ended, an important question arose as to whether telehealth-only prescribing of...
Update on Controlled Substances and Telehealth Prescribing
On June 14th the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) submitted their long-awaited final rule for telehealth prescribing of controlled substances to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a final rule before publication. The rules are expected to be published sometime prior to December 2024. As previously reported, in May 2023 the DEA had temporarily extended the COVID-19 telemedicine flexibilities for prescribing controlled substances. By way of background, The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 requires prescribers to conduct an in-person examination to evaluate each new patient at least once before prescribing a controlled substance. After...
Revised Regulation: DEA-Registered Pharmacies can Transfer Electronic Prescriptions at a Patient’s Request
On September 1st, 2023, the DEA released a revised regulation allowing pharmacies to transfer electronic prescriptions for controlled substances to another pharmacy at the patient's request. This can be very helpful given some of the medication shortages patients have experienced over the last year. The new rule allows for a one-time transfer of electronic prescriptions for Schedule II-V controlled substances to another pharmacy without having to involve the prescribing provider. Patients will no longer need to call their provider and ask for the prescription to be sent to a different pharmacy. Any authorized refills included on a prescription for a...