Iowa Board of Pharmacy
Iowa Board of Pharmacy
400 SW 8th Street, Suite E
Des Moines, Iowa 50309-4688
(515)-281-5944 • Fax (515)-281-4609
Electronic prescribing of controlled substances not yet legal in Iowa
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy (IBP) has advised IMS that its rules currently prohibit electronic prescribing of controlled substances. The IBP is working to amend those rules but until that happens, electronic prescribing of controlled substances is not permissible in Iowa. This issue is being discussed now that the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has released a final interim rule permitting (but not requiring) prescribers to electronically write and pharmacies to electronically accept prescriptions for schedule II-V controlled substances so long as they comply with the rule's many technical requirements such as "proofing" (verifying the user is who the user claims to be) and "logical access control" (verifying that the authenticated user has the authority to perform the requested operation). The rule, published in the March 31, 2010 Federal Register, became effective on June 1. Changes to the DEA rule are yet possible based on public comments.
The AMA, MGMA and several other national medical organizations jointly submitted comments expressing appreciation for DEA's moving forward but raising many points of concern regarding the tough, sometimes unworkable, requirements of the rule. To access the DEA rule, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-6687.pdf. The AMA and others continue to advocate with CMS to assure that physicians remain eligible for Medicare e-prescribing/EHR incentives even if the physician does not e-prescribe controlled substances.