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Minnesota News: Facsimile Transmission of Prescriptions Written or Printed on Tamper-Resistant Paper
Reprinted from the April 2008 Minnesota Board of Pharmacy Newsletter.
Last year, Congress enacted a section of law that requires all paper Medicaid prescriptions to be written or printed on tamper-resistant pads or paper. (Unless they are transmitted electronically or telephoned to the pharmacist.) Per a Provider Update issued on March 4, 2008, by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS):
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has set two deadlines for this requirement:
Beginning April 1, 2008, all prescription pads/paper for prescriptions written for Medicaid fee-for-service recipients/members are required to have at least one of the tamper-resistant characteristics from one of the tamper-resistant categories. Prescriptions generated by an automated medical record, that print a unique number on each prescription, would satisfy this requirement.
Beginning October 1, 2008, prescription pads/paper will be required to have at least one of the tamper-resistant characteristics from all three tamper-resistant categories. At this point, prescriptions generated by an automated medical record, that prints a unique number on each prescription, would not satisfy the requirement of meeting all three categories.
Additional information on DHS policies concerning this issue can be found on that department’s Web site.
The Board has been receiving calls from pharmacists concerning the facsimile transmission of prescriptions that have been written or printed on tamper-resistant paper. The word “VOID” commonly appears printed on the faxed copy of such prescriptions. Pharmacists have asked if such prescriptions can be filled. The answer is, no – the Board does not consider prescriptions with “VOID” appearing on them to be legally valid. A pharmacist receiving such a prescription should contact the prescriber to verify its validity and note the verification on the prescription.
