New York issues waiver to the I-STOP e-prescribing law
Dr. Howard Zucker, the Commissioner of Health for New York State, issued a letter on March 16 outlining a blanket waiver for certain exceptional circumstances regarding New York’s e-prescribing law. As outlined by Dr. Zucker, the waiver of the exceptional circumstances were implemented to address the following concerns:
(a) The standards developed by National Council for Prescription Drug Programs allow only a limited number of characters in the prescription directions to the patient, including, but not limited to, taper doses, insulin sliding scales, and alternating drug doses.
(b) For compound drugs, no unique identifier is available for the entire formulation. Typing the entire compound on one text line may lead to prescribing or dispensing errors, potentially compromising patient safety.
(c) Practitioners are required to issue non-patient specific prescriptions in certain instances, and that such prescriptions cannot be properly entered into the electronic prescription program.
(d) In a nursing home or residential health care facility setting, electronic prescribing may not be available due to technological or economic issues or other exceptional circumstances, including a heavy reliance upon oral communications with the prescriber and pharmacy.
Twelve exceptional circumstances covered by the waiver
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Any practitioner prescribing a controlled or non-controlled substance, containing two (2) or more products, which is compounded by a pharmacist.
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Any practitioner prescribing a controlled or non-controlled substance to be compounded for the direct administration to a patient by parenteral, intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous or intraspinal infusion.
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Any practitioner prescribing a controlled or non-controlled substance that contains long or complicated directions.
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Any practitioner prescribing a controlled or non-controlled substance that requires a prescription to contain certain elements required by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that are not able to be accomplished with electronic prescribing.
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Any practitioner prescribing a controlled or non-controlled substance under approved protocols under expedited partner therapy, collaborative drug management or in response to a public health emergency that would allow a non-patient specific prescription.
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Any practitioner prescribing an opioid antagonist that would allow a non-patient specific prescription.
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Any practitioner prescribing a controlled or non-controlled substance under a research protocol.
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A practitioner prescribing a controlled or non-controlled substance either through an Official New York State Prescription form or an oral prescription communicated to a pharmacist serving as a vendor of pharmaceutical services, by an agent who is a health care practitioner, for patients in nursing homes and residential health care facilities as defined in section twenty-eight hundred one of the public health law.
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A pharmacist dispensing controlled and non-controlled substance compounded prescriptions, prescriptions containing long or complicated directions, and prescriptions containing certain elements required by the FDA or any other governmental agency that are not able to be accomplished with electronic prescribing.
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A pharmacist dispensing prescriptions issued under a research protocol, or under approved protocols for expedited partner therapy, or for collaborative drug management.
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A pharmacist dispensing non-patient specific prescriptions, including opioid antagonists, or prescriptions issued in response to a public health emergency issued.
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A pharmacist serving as a vendor of pharmaceutical services dispensing a controlled or non-controlled substance through an Official New York State Prescription form or an oral prescription communicated by an agent who is a health care practitioner, for patients in nursing homes and residential health care facilities as defined in section twenty-eight hundred one of the public health law.
What do I do if one these circumstances apply to me?
Practitioners issuing prescriptions in the above-listed exceptional circumstances may either use the Official New York State Prescription Form or issue an oral prescription (subject to applicable restrictions and/or limitations). Pharmacists may dispense prescriptions issued on the Official New York State Prescription Form or oral prescriptions in the above-listed exceptional circumstances.
This waiver for the above-listed exceptional circumstances will be effective until March 26, 2017.