(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 asrequired 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 prescriptionselectronically 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 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.