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Important Member Message

As the entire nation continues to understand the impact of the opioid epidemic, Florida became the 25th state to enact opioid reform legislation through House Bill 21 signed by the Governor in March of 2018 and effective as of July 1, 2018.

What you need to know about HB 21:

  • All licensed physicians registered with the DEA and authorized to prescribe controlled substances must take a board approved 2-hour CE course on controlled substances. This includes those physicians with a limited license, temporary certificate holders, and residents. The course must be taken by January 31, 2019 and then prior to each subsequent licensure renewal
  • Prescription and dispensing supply limits for the treatment of acute pain may not exceed a 3-day supply or up to a 7-day supply under special circumstances.
  • The Board of Medicine is required to develop guidelines for prescribing controlled substances for acute pain.
  • All practitioners must use the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) for prescribing or dispensing controlled substances.

The legislation will have a significant impact on the practice of medicine relating to controlled substance prescribing and while we realize the new requirements might only impact a small number of pathologists that have a DEA license we know the epidemic is a serious one and we encourage our members to stay informed and educated. For a list of approved providers offering the controlled substance prescribing course through online webinars, please visit the CE Broker resource page here.

What you need to know if you are not a prescriber?

If you are a pathologist that does not have a DEA license and you are not interested in taking the course than the following important information is IMPORTANT!

CE Broker has added the state mandated requirement for the opioid course on all physician profiles regardless if they are registered with the DEA or not. Therefore, it is important that if you are not registered with the DEA, that you update your profile as soon as possible.

Follow these important steps here to indicate your status:

  1. Visit the Florida Health Medical Quality Assurance website online here.
    1. Do you already have an account?
      1. Then click “Yes” and log in using your MQA Online Services user ID and password
      2. Then click “No” and follow the instructions provided to complete your one-time account registration
  2. Once logged in go to the “Manage My License” Section
  3. Select “Add/Change DEA Registration” from the drop-down list and follow the instructions to indicate if you hold a current registration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
    1. If you hold a current DEA registration
      1. You must provide your number
    2. If you do not have a current DEA registration
      1. Indicate you are not registered with the DEA

Once you have completed the steps above and saved the information, your CE Broker account will automatically be updated. Therefore, if you indicated that you are not registered with the DEA, then your CE Broker account will now have the state mandated opioid CME requirement removed.

As always, we are here to help our members and to provide you with important updates and resources. A list of additional resources can be found below. If you have any questions, please reach out to the FSP office at 904-309-6261 or info@flpath.org.

Additional Resources:

Florida Department Of Health Take Control Website

Florida Medical Association Opioid Resource Website

CE Broker List of Approved Providers of Online Opioid Course

Sources:

Florida Medical Association, Florida Department of Health, CE Broker