ePrescribe: Get Approved for EPCS

In order to prescribe controlled substances, you will need at least one supporting user to approve your identity. This is a rule from the DEA. 

You should have been asked to include this user upon ePresribe sign up. If you do not have a supporting user yet, invite one with the below directions.

Add Supporting Users:

Supporting users can view the Prescriptions tab on clients and queue up medications for practitioner approval.

1. Click More → ePrescribe.
2. Open your practice settings.
3. If you have other prescribers or assistants on your account, they will be listed below.

   

4. Choose whether you want the invitee to be a basic admin or a full admin for ePrescribe. This will control what they are able to do in their own ePrescribing account.
   1. Basic ScriptSure Admin
      1. User is permitted to change practice and clinical application settings
   2. Full ScriptSure Admin
      1. Check if this user permitted to Add, Invite and Edit users of the organization
      2. Important: You need at least one other user set as a full admin to approve you for EPCS the first time.
5. If you are inviting a practitioner but you do not want them to prescribe, uncheck the Prescriber checkbox before sending the invite. This checkbox is only used for invitations. You cannot control whether they are a prescriber or not after the invitation is sent.
6. Click the blue Send Invitation Email button. This will send them an email to sign up.
7. NOTE: Only Clinic admins and assistants to the admin have the option to invite new users to ePrescribe.

Steps for Supporting User

1. Go to the ePrescribe settings page and click the Open Prescription App button.
2. They will see a screen like the one below.
3. Click the green Review Access Requests button and approve the prescriber from the next screen. 

1. Go to your ePrescribe settings.
2. Click the blue Manage Prescription App button.
3. Click Add User at the top right.
4. Select Invite Supporting User. Note: You must have an admin role to perform this function.
5. Enter the user's name and email.
6. Check off both basic and full administrator.
7. The user will receive invitation email; they will need to click Setup Account from this email. All they will have to do is set up a password and then they will be in ScriptSure.
8. A pop-up that shows EPCS Request will appear. The user will click Review and then Approve next to your name.

DEA's Second User (Administrator) Requirement

The Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 U.S.C. 801-904, prevents the diversion of controlled substances into improper channels by requiring that controlled substances only be prescribed by practitioners registered with DEA (or exempt from the registration requirement). 

Thus, one of DEA's primary goals in the IFR was to ensure that non-registrants cannot improperly gain access to electronic prescription applications— i.e., the computer software practitioners use to electronically issue their prescriptions. Obviously, if non-registrants could gain access to these applications, they might be able to use them to fraudulently generate or alter electronic prescriptions for controlled substances, thereby diverting these controlled substances in violation of the CSA.

Thus, the IFR contains a number of measures designed to minimize, to the greatest extent possible, the potential for the diversion of controlled substances through such misuse of electronic prescription applications. These include the IFR's approaches to identity proofing (verifying that the user of an electronic prescription application is who he or she claims to be) and logical access control (verifying that the authenticated user has the authority to perform the requested action).

Under the IFR, a practitioner can only sign and issue an electronic prescription by using an authentication credential, and a practitioner can only receive such a credential after having his or her identity verified. For individual practitioners (as opposed to practitioners associated with an institutional practitioner registrant), such identity proofing is done by authorized third parties that, after verifying a registrant's identity, issue an authentication credential to the registrant. These third parties must be federally approved credential service providers (CSPs) or certification authorities (CAs).

Ultimately, this second user logs in once to approve the provider for prescribing.  Once complete, the prescriber can prescribe and the second user does not need to login again.