DEA Requirements for Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS)

EPCS requires the individual practitioner be responsible for ensuring the prescription conforms to all legal requirements and the pharmacist, acting under the authority of the DEA-registered pharmacy, has a corresponding responsibility to ensure the prescription is valid and meets all legal requirements. 

In order to electronically prescribe controlled substances, some of the major DEA requirements prescribers must adhere to include:

• Use of an e-prescribing application that is certified by a DEA approved entity.
• Completion of a compliant identity-proofing process.
• Use of a secure, two-factor authentication process to sign prescriptions for controlled substances.

A practitioner cannot issue EPCS and a pharmacy cannot process them until its pharmacy application provider obtains a third party audit or certification review that determines that the application complies with DEA's requirements and the application provider provides the audit/certification report to the pharmacy.  Review of an EPCS application must be thorough in order to provide the prescriber and pharmacist the level of assurance needed in order to use the application.  For more information regarding these third-party reviews, please visit DEA's website at http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/ecomm/e_rx/thirdparty.htm.