On January 1, 2024, a law went into effect that required all healthcare providers, including dentists, prescribing controlled substances schedule II-V to submit prescriptions electronically. However, the legislation also includes several exemptions. One of the exemptions states that the law does not apply to providers that do not issue more than 150 prescriptions of controlled substances schedule II-IV during a 12 month period.

As the law has been implemented this month, some prescribers have been told they must submit all prescriptions electronically, and there are no exemptions. However, the law provides for several exemptions. For more information about the law and exemptions, please click here.  

To address this issue, ISDS contacted the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and requested they issue guidance to pharmacists and pharmacies to clarify the provisions of the new law. In response to the ISDS request, IDFPR has issued the following guidance to pharmacists and pharmacies.

Subject line: IDFPR E-Prescription Clarification

Hello,

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) would like to clarify what is included in Public Act 103-0425, which provides economic hardship and low volume waivers for the electronic prescription mandate for controlled substances.

The Department has learned that there are pharmacies that are rejecting written prescriptions from prescribers and requesting copies of prescribers’ “E-Prescription” waiver. IDFPR is not issuing such waivers and pharmacies are not required to keep track of written prescriptions from prescribers.

IDFPR has released guidance on the implementation of Public Act 103-0425, which may be found attached to this email. (Click here for IDFPR Guidance).

If a dentist experiences this issue with prescribing, please email info@isds.org.