Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

     Purpose: The rule amends WAC 246-870-060(6) What are the board requirements for electronic prescription transmission system? The rule requires that a prescription printed from an electronic prescription transmission system for delivery to a pharmacy must be printed on tamper resistant prescription paper compliant with RCW 18.64.500 and must be manually signed by the prescriber.

     Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 246-870-060.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 18.64.500.

     Other Authority: RCW 18.64.005.

      Adopted under notice filed as WSR 11-05-094 on February 16, 2011.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0;      Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

     Date Adopted: April 7, 2011.

A. J. Linggi, Chair

Board of Pharmacy

OTS-3141.5

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 03-24-070, filed 12/1/03, effective 1/1/04)

WAC 246-870-060   What are the board requirements for electronic prescription transmission systems?   (1) Systems for the electronic transmission of prescription information must be approved by the board. Board approval of systems will be for a period of three years. The board will maintain a list of approved systems.

     (2) Systems in which prescriptions are transmitted from the prescriber's facsimile machine to the pharmacy facsimile machine do not require board approval.

     (3) Each system shall have policies and procedures on the electronic transmission of prescription information available that address the following:

     (a) Patient access. The system may not restrict the patient's access to the pharmacy of their choice.

     (b) Security. The system shall have security and system safeguard designed to prevent and detect unauthorized access, modification, or manipulation of prescription information. Accordingly, the system should include:

     (i) Documented formal procedures for selecting and executing security measures;

     (ii) Physical safeguards to protect computer systems and other pertinent equipment from intrusion;

     (iii) Processes to protect, control and audit access to confidential patient information; and

     (iv) Processes to prevent unauthorized access to the data when transmitted over communication networks or when data physically moves from one location to another using media such as magnetic tape, removable drives or CD media.

     (c) Systems that utilize intermediaries in the electronic communication or processing of prescriptions such as third party payers shall be responsible to insure that their contracts with these intermediaries require security measures that are equal to or better than those provided by this rule and prohibit the modification of any prescription record after it has been transmitted by the practitioner to the pharmacist.

     (d) Confidentiality of patient records. The system shall maintain the confidentiality of patient information in accordance with the requirements of chapters 18.64, 69.50, and 70.02 RCW Health Care Information Act and any applicable federal law.

     (e) Authentication. To be valid prescriptions transmitted by an authorized prescriber from computer to fax machine or from computer to computer must use an electronic signature or digital signature.

     (4) The system shall provide for the transmission and retention of the information by the sender and the receiver of the prescription as required in WAC 246-870-030.

     (5) The system must authenticate the sender's authority and credentials to transmit a prescription.

     (a) The system shall provide an audit trail of all prescriptions electronically transmitted that documents for retrieval all actions and persons who have acted on a prescription, including authorized delegation of transmission;

     (b) The right of the Washington state board of pharmacy to access electronically submitted prescriptions for purposes of investigations in disciplinary proceedings.

     (6) If a hard copy of an electronic prescription((, generated from the electronic prescription system, is printed on security paper that insures it is not subject to copying or alteration, an electronic signature may be substituted for a manual signature)) is given directly to the patient, the prescription must be printed on approved tamper-resistant paper and must be manually signed by the prescriber as required in RCW 18.64.500.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 69.41, 69.50 RCW, RCW 18.64.005. 03-24-070, § 246-870-060, filed 12/1/03, effective 1/1/04.]

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