DEA Proposes Special Registrations for Telehealth Prescribing

TechTarget / By Anuja Vaidya

The DEA is set to publish a proposal for a special registrations framework that would allow certain healthcare practitioners to prescribe controlled substances via telehealth without performing an in-person exam first.

The unpublished proposal made available on the Federal Register details the special registrations framework, which includes three types of registrations:

1. A telemedicine prescribing registration would authorize qualified clinician practitioners, including registered physicians and midlevel practitioners, to prescribe Schedule III-V controlled substances via telehealth.
2. An advanced telemedicine prescribing registration would allow specialized clinician practitioners, such as psychiatrists and hospice care physicians, to prescribe Schedule II-V controlled substances via telehealth.
3. A telemedicine platform registration would authorize covered online telehealth platforms to dispense Schedule II-V controlled substances.

Once registered, clinician practitioners would be considered clinician special registrants, and covered online telehealth platforms would be regarded as platform special registrants.

The proposal also requires the registrants to maintain a state telemedicine registration for every state where a patient is treated. The DEA will issue the state telemedicine registration, which, along with the other registrations, would run on a three-year cycle…

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