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Continuing a practice that began in 2016, the Ohio Pharmacy Board recently provided the Ohio Medical Board with fresh analytical data on prescribers’ OARRS use.

During the February 2018 Medical Board meeting, Board staff acknowledged a learning curve from its prior communications to prescribers flagged by the Pharmacy Board for non-compliance. Specifically, in 2017, the Ohio Medical Board sent targeted letters in January and follow-up letters in April to thousands of medical professionals identified for either not using OARRS correctly, or for prescribing controlled substances in higher quantities than permitted by acceptable minimal standards.

With this new batch of OARRS data, the Medical Board plans to again take proactive steps to address possible violations of Ohio’s Medical Practice Act. But, unlike in 2017, the Medical Board hopes to avoid causing unwarranted concern or confusion to compliant physicians inadvertently flagged as non-compliant.

Prescribers who are the most likely targets of Board enforcement include:

• Anyone who prescribes controlled substances who has not registered to have an OARRS account.
• Prescribers who received letters in 2017.
• Prescribers who authorize prescriptions for controlled substances without first running an OARRS report.
• Prescribers who are authorizing prescriptions for controlled substances for acute pain in greater quantity than Ohio’s 5-7 day limit.
• Prescribers who write prescriptions for controlled substances but fail to include the ICD-10 Code on the prescription.

If you are contacted by the Ohio Medical Board as one of the identified aberrant prescribers, you are at serious risk of a formal disciplinary action. Your noncompliance could result in administrative penalties up to permanent revocation of your Ohio Medical License and a $20,000 fine.

As in 2016 and 2017, the raw data provided by the Ohio Pharmacy Board comes without context or explanation. Prescribers have the right to defend their medical decision-making and the right to have counsel present when questioned by a Board investigator. Licensees who receive Notices of Opportunity for Hearing only have 30 days to request a hearing and defend their licenses against sanctions.

If you received a communication from the Ohio Medical Board regarding your use of the OARRS system, or if you have questions regarding the OARRS system and/or the Ohio Medical Board or Pharmacy Board requirements, you should consider contacting an attorney at Graff & McGovern, LPA, for a no-cost consultation. Levi Tkach is available to take your call at 614-228-5800, extension 4.