The holidays have begun and while we are seeing a few more familiar routines this year, another COVID-19 variant is rearing its ugly head just in time for visits with friends and family. Please stay vigilant as we better understand and navigate the Omicron variant.

Once the holidays are over, a new law goes into effect requiring health care providers who prescribe controlled and dangerous substances to only prescribe with electronic prescribing, unless they have been given a waiver as determined by the Maryland Department of Health. I have written previously about the new law and the possible opportunity for waivers. We have been waiting patiently for regulations to be written and released, but the Department of Health has yet to issue any guidance. 

Despite the lack of regulations, the law still stands, so any of us who write CDS prescription must be ready to comply. An electronic prescription, as defined by the law is:

“ELECTRONIC PRESCRIPTION” MEANS A PRESCRIPTION THAT: (1) IS GENERATED ON AN ELECTRONIC APPLICATION AND TRANSMITTED AS AN ELECTRONIC DATA FILE; AND (2) IF THE PRESCRIPTION IS FOR A CONTROLLED DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE, COMPLIES WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF 21 C.F.R. PART 1306.

To help dentists comply with the new law for controlled and dangerous substances, and the direction many MSDA members are already heading, DAC has now endorsed DrFirst for e-prescription in the MSDA Member Perks program. Through the partnership, MSDA members can use the iPrescribe mobile app at no cost for the first year.

iPrescribe provides prescribing of both controlled and standard medications; easy access to a patient’s medication history data; in-workflow checking of State’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) database (where applicable); at-a-glance allergy and drug to drug alerts; and renewal requests on-the-go. If you are interested in learning more about this Member Perks vendor, please visit the website, iprescribe.com.

We will continue to watch for any updates from the Department of Health with regard to waivers, but want to be sure all of our members are prepared on Jan. 1.