What is EPCS?
EPCS is the electronic prescription of controlled substance. Any prescription drug that has the potential for abuse or dependence is a controlled substance. US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) legalized the use of Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS) to help deter the rising prescription drug abuse problem. Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances is meant to eliminate paper prescriptions and allow clinical prescribers to write prescriptions electronically for controlled substances, making these prescriptions digitalized and trackable for the prescriber and the pharmacy.
PracticeSuite has Integrated Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances (EPCS) through NewCrop/SureScripts. Exostar is our Identity proofing solution.
PracticeSuite EHR system permits e-prescribing through NewCrop/SureScripts so that you can continue to offer appropriate, high-quality care while remaining compliant with state, federal, and private mandates. It’s a one hour one time set up. The e-Rx active providers who are controlled substance eligible prescribers will have to use the feature to comply with the mandates. DEA # is mandatory for the setup. Also, there are additional charges apart from the existing e-prescription charges. Mandates differ from state to state. You can check with your state rules to avoid penalty and contact our sales team for pricing details.
How to Write a Controlled Prescription?
Only a prescriber who has completed the EPCS registration process will be able to transmit a controlled medication through PracticeSuite. It’s one hour one time set up with DEA Compliant Two-Factor Authentication & ID Proofing.
A user that is NOT EPCS certified is able to prepare the Rx and leave it pending for the EPCS certified prescriber, however the EPCS certified prescriber must be logged in to transmit a controlled Rx.
The prescription can be done from notes for visits and from the face sheet for non-visits/refills.
For Visits, Click on ‘Prescription’ within encounter notes to redirect to Newcrop Portal.
For non-visits/refills, Click on the Rx icon from the face sheet to redirect to Newcrop Portal.
In NewCrop, write the prescription as appropriate for the medication. Click on ‘Take Complete Rx to Review Page’; see Image 1.
Click on ‘Proceed to Transmit Page'(Image 2).
The pharmacy highlighted in green is the most recent pharmacy request from the patient. You can also choose another one that accepts controlled Rxs from the list beneath. Choose your preferred OTP delivery method(Image 3).
Either enter the OTP and click Sign Rx OR send to and approve the push notification your phone.
The Receipt page confirms transmission.
