Source: Ohio State Medical Association
After five months of comment periods, hearings, and meetings, the final rules for prescribing opioids in acute settings have been drafted.
The Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA) compared the original rules proposal to the final rules product as follows:
Governor’s original proposal included:
- 5-day opioid limit for minors for acute pain
- 7-day opioid limit for adults with acute pain
- No greater than 30 MED (average dose over the 5 or 7 days for acute pain)
- Inclusion of the full ICD-10 diagnosis code on every prescription for a controlled substance, regardless of length of prescription.
Final guidelines:
- Clarify that prescriber can exceed the five- or seven-day limit with appropriate documentation in the medical record
- Clarify that prescriber can exceed the 30MED with appropriate documentation in the medical record
- Prescriber is only required to include the first four digits of the ICD-10 code and originally only on prescriptions for opioids (effective 12-19-17). The Pharmacy board will delay any implementation related to other controlled substances for a least 9 months.
The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians submitted comments throughout the process as did the OSMA and other physician organizations. The physician organizations shared information and collaborated on their efforts to improve the original rules particularly with regard to the additional administrative burden the rules impose on prescribers.