On March 31st, an Interim Final Rule (ISR) was issued with request for comment to allow the ability to use electronic prescribing (rather than paper prescriptions) for controlled substances. These regulations are in addition to, not a replacement of, the existing rules. The IFR states the proposed rule provides practitioners with the option of writing prescriptions for controlled substances electronically. The regulations will also:

1. Permit pharmacies to receive, dispense, and archive electronic prescriptions;
2. Provide pharmacies, hospitals, and practitioners with the ability to use modern technology for controlled substance prescriptions while maintaining the closed system of controls on controlled substances dispensing;
3. Reduce paperwork for DEA registrants who dispense controlled substances and have the potential to reduce prescription forgery;
4. Potentially reduce the number of prescription errors caused by illegible handwriting and misunderstood oral prescriptions;
5. Help both pharmacies and hospitals integrate prescription records into other medical records more directly, which may increase efficiency, and potentially reduce the amount of time patients spend waiting to have their prescriptions filled.

Comments will be accepted for 60 days after the IFR was issued.