News & Announcements
E-prescribe mandate takes effect January 1
posted: November 16, 2023
Regulatory Update
In an earlier update, IASCA alerted members to a delay in the implementation of the state’s e-prescribe manadate. We can now report that the Illinois Department of Human Services has adopted amendments to Electronic Prescription Monitoring Program, effective 9/8/23.
Beginning January 1, 2024, all healthcare providers prescribing controlled substances schedule II-V must submit those prescriptions electronically. This requirement orignally included very few exceptions, however, during the 2023 General Assembly, legislators approved several exemptions, including:
- Prescribers issuing 150 prescriptions or less annually are exempt from the mandate until January 1, 2029. After that, anyone annually issuing 50 prescriptions or less are exempt.
- Before Jan. 1, 2026, the prescriber demonstrates financial difficulty in buying or managing an electronic prescription option.
- On and after Jan. 1, 2026, the prescriber provides proof of a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for economic hardship.
- The prescription is non-patient-specific, such as a drug that is dispensed under a standing order, approved protocol for drug therapy, collaborative drug management, comprehensive medication management, or in response to a public health emergency or other circumstance in which the prescriber may issue a non-patient specific prescription.
- The prescription is issued when the prescriber and dispenser are the same person or entity.
- The prescription is issued for a compounded prescription.
- The practitioner determines it would be impractical for the patient to obtain in a timely manner if prescribed electronically and would adversely impact the patient’s medical condition.
- Patients in certain locations and situations, such as nursing homes, correctional facilities, or undergoing hospice care.