On December 16, 2024, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy started publishing to authorized prescribers via the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS), patients who have experienced a non-fatal drug overdose, as reported by an Ohio emergency department.(1) New data made available to the governor indicates that people at risk of overdose are interacting with the healthcare system and this additional insight may further reduce the risk of fatal overdoses.
Ohio prescribers are required by their various governing boards and related statutes to check OARRS in various situations, including the following (which is not all-inclusive):
Before initially prescribing or personally furnishing an opioid analgesic or a benzodiazepine to a patient, the prescriber must request patient information from OARRS that covers at least the previous 12 months.
The prescriber must also make periodic requests for patient information from OARRS if the course of treatment continues for more than 90 days. The requests must be made at intervals not exceeding ninety days, determined according to the date the initial request was made.
Under the circumstances described above, the prescriber is required to assess the OARRS information and document in the patient record that a patient prescription history report was received and assessed.(2)
While there are some exceptions to checking OARRS, such as prescriptions to hospice patients or any patient who has been diagnosed as terminally ill, there are also nuances about the location of the patient at the time of prescribing.(3) Ohio law also requires prescribers who practice in a county that adjoins another state to check that state’s drug database, which can be accessed through OARRS.
Although none of the requirements to check OARRS has changed recently, Ohio prescribers are advised that this newly available information in OARRS puts a provider on heightened notice of a patient’s drug abuse history in more detail such that the standard of care for treating a patient with this known history is now higher.
Be sure to check OARRS timely and before writing a prescription and consider this new information in your treatment plan as you document your compliant statement that you reviewed the OARRS report and evaluated the information in establishing your care plan. I see many EMRs with templated language or a box-check for “checking OARRS” but be sure you as a prescriber have documented enough to support your knowledge of any patient’s non-fatal overdose incidents, especially those prescribers treating behavioral health and substance abuse disorders specifically.
1.) Quick Reference Guide available at: https://www.ohiopmp.gov/documents/general/pharmacies_prescribers/quick%20reference%20guide%20-%20non-fatal%20drug%20overdose%20indicator.pdf
2.) See the Ohio Board of Pharmacy FAQs available at: https://www.pharmacy.ohio.gov/Documents/Pubs/Special/OARRS/Mandatory%20OARRS%20Registration%20and%20Requests.pdf
3.) See Ohio Board of Pharmacy FAQs.
This information has been provided as a general guide for educational purposes by Vanguard Health Law, LLC. It is not legal advice, which is always given by an engaged attorney who understands the particular facts of your situation and can provide the most appropriate advice.
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