This is not a drill:
A STOP Act requirement to check the NC Controlled Substances Reporting System (NC CSRS) before prescribing certain controlled substances will be in effect as of July 7.
NC DHHS notified the state Revisor of Statutes on June 7 that all technical upgrades necessary to allow this provision of law to go into effect had been completed. The STOP Act of 2017 specifies that the “mandatory use” provision will be in effect 30 days after the date of such notification.
No doubt many controlled substances prescribers are already registered and using NC CSRS. For those who are not, it's time to act. Visit NCMB's NC CSRS Resource page to access FAQs, find links to registration and CSRS training and more. If your practice uses EHR, be sure to inquire with NC CSRS about integrating your system with the prescription drug database - it's much faster and easier to search patient prescription histories this way than entering searches manually. Find information about integration
here.
And, don't miss t
he latest episode of NCMB's podcast, MedBoard Matters, which covers all you need to know to get started with NC CSRS.
Here's a quick refresher on what "mandatory use" requires of prescribers:
Prior to prescribing a Schedule II or Schedule III opioid or narcotic, practitioners are required to review a patient’s 12-month prescription history in the NC CSRS. For every subsequent three-month period that the Schedule II or Schedule III opioid or narcotic remains part of the patient’s medical care, practitioners are required to review the patient’s 12-month history in the NC CSRS.
Reviews should be documented within the patient’s medical record along with any electrical or technological failure that prevents such review. Prescribers are required to review the history and document the review once the electrical or technological failure has resolved.
Certain practitioners may, but are not required to, review the NC CSRS prior to prescribing a targeted controlled substance to a patient in any of the following circumstances:
• Controlled substances administered in a health care setting, hospital, nursing home, outpatient dialysis facility or residential care facility.
• Controlled substances prescribed for the treatment of cancer or another condition associated with cancer.
• Controlled substances prescribed to patients in hospice care or palliative care.
