Proposed Ohio Regulations On Controlled Substance Prescriptions

Photo of 2 opioid prescription bottlesThe State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy recently proposed amendments to Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) regulations concerning the “manner of issuance of a prescription,” “information required for submission,” and “electronic format required for the transmission of dispensing information.”  The proposed amendments to OAC 4729-5-30 require diagnosis codes and days’ supply on all controlled substance prescriptions; specifies the portions of a prescription that a pharmacist may modify; updates requirements for prescribing via fax, orally, or electronically; and updates “dispense as written” requirements for generic substitutions, interchangeable biologics, and combined refills.  The proposed amendments to OAC 4729-37-04 and OAC 4729-37-05 require reporting of diagnosis codes to the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS), and the adoption of the American Society for Automation in Pharmacy 4.2A Standard for reporting dispensing data.  The Pharmacy Board believes collection of diagnosis codes in OARRS “will help to support efforts to monitor and enforce the acute pain prescribing limits currently being proposed by Ohio’s Prescriber regulatory boards,” and these “limits have the potential to reduce the number [of] opioids prescribed in Ohio by an additional 109 million doses.”  For additional information, see the information on these proposed regulation amendments in the Register of Ohio.