The Dentistry Examining Board has issued “Best Practice” guidelines for dentists who choose to prescribe controlled substances. As noted by the Department of Safety and Professional Services, “These guidelines are intended to supplement and not replace the individual dentist’s professional judgment.” Please review these guidelines and contact WDA Executive Director Mark Paget ([email protected] or 414-755-4100) with questions.

Wisconsin’s new Electronic Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, or ePDMP, launched on Jan. 17, 2017. All dentists, as well as other providers with prescriptive authority and pharmacies, are affected.

The program will give all providers and pharmacies access to an information database to help identify patients who may be drug seekers prior to writing prescriptions for “monitored prescription drugs”.

State reporting requirements now apply to ALL providers that prescribe.

If you prescribe controlled substances in schedules II through V, you must check the patient’s name in the ePDMP prior to issuing the prescription.  Most dentists or specialists do not dispense, and thus the responsibility of entering the prescription into the PDMP falls upon the pharmacy.

There are two exemptions to checking the ePDMP:

  • If your prescription is for three days or less, and does not allow for a refill, or,
  • If you administer the drug directly to the patient in your office (often done by specialists as part of pre-op, etc);

If either of those apply, you do NOT have to check the ePDMP.

“Dispense” means to give a “monitored prescription drug” to a patient by or pursuant to the prescription order of a practitioner, including the compounding, packaging or labeling necessary to prepare the prescribed drug.

  • A dentist does dispense a monitored prescription drug when he/she gives a patient the drug(s) in small or large quantities for the patient to consume outside of the clinic
  • A dentist does NOT dispense a monitored prescription drug and, therefore, does not need to submit information to the PDMP when he or she:
  1. Administers the drug directly to a patient during treatment in the dental office/clinic
  2. Writes a prescription order for the drug that is filled elsewhere (e.g., pharmacy)

“Monitored prescription drugs” are those the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board identifies as having a substantial potential for abuse:

All dispensers are required to electronically submit information about all dispensing of monitored prescription drugs since Jan. 1, 2013. YOU MUST REGISTER FOR THE ePDMP by April 1, 2017. Visit the state’s PDMP website to learn more about the specific data you’ll be expected to collect, such as information about the dispenser, practitioner, patient and drug.

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Please direct questions about PDMP to WDA Executive Director Mark Paget. For technical issues/questions, please contact 608-250-4606 or [email protected].