E-Prescribing of Controlled Substances and HHS’ Health IT Efforts Jodi G. Daniel, JD, MPH Director, ONC Office of Policy and Planning

ONC’s Interest in E-Prescribing of Controlled Substances  Permit e-prescribing of controlled substances in a manner that is reasonable for provider workflow o Remove a barrier to e-prescribing o Assure that e-prescribing benefits can reach patients that receive prescriptions for controlled substances o Establish an approach that is not inconsistent with provider workflow  Promote harmonization of DEA's EPCS rule with HHS rules implementing provisions of the HITECH Act

Collaborative Effort  HHS worked closely with DEA in their development of the e-prescribing final rule o HHS became involved after DEA published its NPRM o Agencies included ONC, CMS, and AHRQ o Worked jointly to analyze comments and discuss potential options for final rule revisions  Worked to develop approaches that met both agency’s missions and afforded protections for providers, pharmacies, and intermediaries

Connection with HHS’s Activities  Important to allow full adoption and meaningful use of certified electronic health records  Allows development and upgrades to EHRs for e- prescribing of controlled substances consistent with the timing of meeting certification requirements  Security requirements go further than HHS’ health information security requirements Hope to learn more about how some of these security policies are implemented and how they work in practice