New Jersey e-Prescribe (EPCS) Certified EHR Software

Arizona
Beginning January 1, 2019, Schedule II substances must be prescribed electronically in Arizona and controlled prescriptions must be reported to Arizona's Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP).

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Arkansas
Arkansas Senate Bill 174 became Act 447 on March 13th, 2019. This law requires that all prescriptions for controlled substances Schedule II-VI be electronically prescribed. The law details a penalty for noncompliance. Effective date 01/01/2021.

Colorado
Colorado Senate Bill 79 proposes that all controlled substances Schedule II-IV be electronically prescribed. The effective date is July 1st, 2021 for podiatrists, physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, and optometrists. The effective date is July 1st, 2023 for dentists and practitioners serving rural communities or in solo practice. Effective date 07/01/2021

California
Starting January 1, 2022, California will require prescribers to electronically send all prescriptions. However, prescribers are encouraged to start utilizing e-Prescribing software now.

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Connecticut
Governor Malloy signed House Bill 7052, An Act Preventing Prescription Opioid Diversion and Abuse, which will go into effect on January 1, 2018. By this date, all controlled substances must be prescribed electronically.

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Illinois
Illinois joins other states passing a law that requires all medication, non-controlled and controlled substances (CII-CV), to be electronically prescribed. The government even requires medical devices to be e-Prescribed. Effective date 01/01/2022

Indiana
Indiana Senate Bill 176 mandates that all controlled substance prescriptions be electronically prescribed. This bill also presents several other healthcare regulation changes for the state of Indiana.
Effective date 01/01/2021

Iowa
Iowa House File 2377 requires electronic prescribing for all prescriptions - both non-controlled and controlled substances. Exceptions, waivers and penalties are included in the bill.
Effective date 01/01/2020

Kentucky
Kentucky House Bill 342 requires that all prescriptions for controlled substances be electronically prescribed. The bill details exceptions that can be made that will be determined at a later date.
Effective date 01/01/2021

Maine
Maine’s e-Prescribing mandate went into effect July 1st, 2017 requiring all prescribers to report prescriptions for controlled substances to Maine’s Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) as well as be transmitted electronically

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Massachusetts
Massachusetts has taken a previously written bill and modified it to new standards in regards to mandating E-Prescribing of Controlled Substances. The changes included exceptions and waivers for providers. The bill requires EPCS as well as other requirements to address opioid addiction. The bills go into effect two years after they are passed, January 1st, 2020.

Minnesota
Minnesota was the first state to mandate e-Prescribing on January 1, 2011. Since then there has been a steady incline of e-Prescriptions in the state, but since there is no enforcement of this mandate, paper prescriptions are still used. Drug overdose deaths in Minnesota increased 11% from 2014 to 2015, proving that there is work to be done. EPCS should be used to improve these numbers.

Nevada
Nevada Assembly Bill 310 proposes mandating that all prescriptions be prescribed electronically. The bill outlines additional regulations for controlled substance prescriptions. Effective date 01/01/2020

New Jersey
New Jersey Providers have already been exposed to New York’s strict EPCS mandate, so the government has drafted a bill that also requires all medications, non-controlled and controlled (CII-CV) substances, must be electronically prescribed. The bill also requires EHR vendors to allow EPCS for CII’s. There is no official mandate date, but it will be set for one year after the bills are passed.

New York
New York mandated e-Prescribing of all controlled and non-controlled substances on March 27th, 2016. Since the mandate, thousands of New York prescribers have adopted and e-Prescribing solution.

North Carolina
North Carolina government has drafted the STOP (Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention) Act requiring e-Prescribing for CII-CV medications. The state has listed the potential exceptions to the law.
Effective date 01/01/2020

Ohio
Beginning in August 2017, Ohio began implementing new requirements for providers when writing prescriptions and are continuously enacting legislation over the next few years. The newest addition, which went into effect on December 29, 2017, required providers to include the first four characters of the ICD-10 diagnosis code or full procedure code on all opioid prescriptions. The law for all other controlled substances goes into effect on June 1, 2018.

Oklahoma
Out of 14,000 prescribers in Oklahoma, only 8% are utilizing e-Prescribing. Law enforcement believes that e-Prescribing will make it easier for doctors to prescribe and renew controlled medications for their patients in smaller dosages – reducing the need for prescribing large amounts. State senators are interested in the bill and additional legislation to help decrease opioid abuse in 2018.

Pennsylvania
Senator Alloway has introduced legislation on February 6, 2017, that will require controlled substances to be electronically prescribed. If this bill passes, paper prescriptions for opioids will no longer be accepted. Alloway hopes that this bill will make doctor shopping and prescription forging tough. This bill will go into effect one year after enactment.

Rhode Island
Effective January 1st, 2020, Rhode Island’s bill takes effect mandating e-Prescribing of controlled substances. There are no existing exceptions or waivers in place yet.

Virginia
On July 1, 2020, Virginia’s statewide EPCS mandate will go into effect, requiring all prescribers to electronically prescribe controlled substances, rather than write paper prescriptions. This mandate is meant to lower the amount of opioid-related deaths in Virginia.

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Electronic Prescribing from your software

E-Prescribing is a prescriber's ability to electronically send an accurate, error-free and understandable prescription directly to a pharmacy from the point-of-care - is an important element in improving the quality of patient care. The inclusion of electronic prescribing in the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 gave momentum to the movement, and the July 2006 Institute of Medicine report on the role of e-prescribing in reducing medication errors received widespread publicity, helping to build awareness of e-prescribing's role in enhancing patient safety.  Adopting the standards to facilitate e-prescribing is one of the key action items in the governments plan to expedite the adoption of electronic medical records and build a national electronic health information infrastructure in the United States.

The MMA created a new voluntary prescription drug benefit under Medicare Part D. Although e-prescribing will be optional for physicians and pharmacies, Medicare Part D will require drug plans participating in the new prescription benefit to support electronic prescribing.

In the last 2 years, Docta has become the single most trusted e-Prescribing solution in the market by partnering with DoseSpot to provide state-of-the-art security, functionality and stability throughout the e-Prescribing process.

By simply clicking the Add Prescription button in the patient's consultation window, all e-Prescribed medications are saved in the patient's record so you can keep track of them and review their history accurately.

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