7/11/12 N.Y. St. Reg. EDU-16-12-00015-A
PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following action:
Action taken:
Amendment of sections 29.7(a) and 63.6(a)(7) of Title 8 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Education Law, sections 207 (not subdivided), 6504 (not subdivided), 6506(1), 6507(2)(a), 6509(9), 6802(23) and 6810(6)(a); and L. 2011, ch. 590
Subject:
Form and use of electronic prescriptions and maintenance of prescriptions by pharmacists in a secure electronic record.
Purpose:
To implement Education Law sections 6802(23), as added, and section 6810(6)(a), as amended, by chapter 590 of the Laws of 2011.
Text or summary was published
in the April 18, 2012 issue of the Register, I.D. No. EDU-16-12-00015-P.
Final rule as compared with last published rule:
No changes.
Text of rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Mary Gammon,, State Education Department, Office of Counsel, State Education Building, Room 148, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12234, (518) 474-6400, email:
legal@mail.nysed.govAssessment of Public Comment
Since publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the State Register on April 18, 2012, the State Education Department received the following comments.
One writer, representing the New York City Pharmacists Society, wrote in general support of the proposed amendments. However, the writer suggested that prescriptions, both those for controlled substances and those that are for non-controlled substances, that are converted to a facsimile transmission should be considered a true electronic prescription. The writer also believes the proposed amendment will affect a pharmacist's current means of communicating with a prescriber to obtain authorization for additional refills on existing prescriptions.
Education Law § 6802, as recently amended by Chapter 590 of the Laws of 2011, specifically provides that facsimile transmissions must be manually signed and therefore, are not electronic prescriptions. Federal requirements promulgated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and those being developed by the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement of the New York State Department of Health also preclude facsimile transmissions from being considered electronic prescriptions in that facsimile transmissions lack required security features. With regard to the writer's second comment, the proposed amendment relates to new prescriptions, and not to refill authorizations on existing prescriptions.
