S.B. 178

             1     

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE DATABASE MODIFICATIONS

             2     
2014 GENERAL SESSION

             3     
STATE OF UTAH

             4     
Chief Sponsor: Evan J. Vickers

             5     
House Sponsor: Bradley G. Last

             6     
             7      LONG TITLE
             8      General Description:
             9          This bill modifies the Controlled Substance Database Act regarding access by pharmacy
             10      technicians.
             11      Highlighted Provisions:
             12          This bill:
             13          .    allows the pharmacist-in-charge to designate a licensed pharmacy technician to have
             14      access to the database on behalf of the pharmacist in accordance with statutory
             15      requirements.
             16      Money Appropriated in this Bill:
             17          None
             18      Other Special Clauses:
             19          None
             20      Utah Code Sections Affected:
             21      AMENDS:
             22           58-37f-301 , as last amended by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapters 12, 130, and 262
             23     
             24      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             25          Section 1. Section 58-37f-301 is amended to read:
             26           58-37f-301. Access to database.
             27          (1) The division shall make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah


             28      Administrative Rulemaking Act, to:
             29          (a) effectively enforce the limitations on access to the database as described in this
             30      part; and
             31          (b) establish standards and procedures to ensure accurate identification of individuals
             32      requesting information or receiving information without request from the database.
             33          (2) The division shall make information in the database and information obtained from
             34      other state or federal prescription monitoring programs by means of the database available only
             35      to the following individuals, in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and division
             36      rules:
             37          (a) personnel of the division specifically assigned to conduct investigations related to
             38      controlled substance laws under the jurisdiction of the division;
             39          (b) authorized division personnel engaged in analysis of controlled substance
             40      prescription information as a part of the assigned duties and responsibilities of their
             41      employment;
             42          (c) in accordance with a written agreement entered into with the department,
             43      employees of the Department of Health:
             44          (i) whom the director of the Department of Health assigns to conduct scientific studies
             45      regarding the use or abuse of controlled substances, if the identity of the individuals and
             46      pharmacies in the database are confidential and are not disclosed in any manner to any
             47      individual who is not directly involved in the scientific studies; or
             48          (ii) when the information is requested by the Department of Health in relation to a
             49      person or provider whom the Department of Health suspects may be improperly obtaining or
             50      providing a controlled substance;
             51          (d) in accordance with a written agreement entered into with the department, a
             52      designee of the director of the Department of Health, who is not an employee of the
             53      Department of Health, whom the director of the Department of Health assigns to conduct
             54      scientific studies regarding the use or abuse of controlled substances pursuant to an application
             55      process established in rule by the Department of Health, if:
             56          (i) the designee provides explicit information to the Department of Health regarding
             57      the purpose of the scientific studies;
             58          (ii) the scientific studies to be conducted by the designee:


             59          (A) fit within the responsibilities of the Department of Health for health and welfare;
             60          (B) are reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board that is approved for
             61      human subject research by the United States Department of Health and Human Services; and
             62          (C) are not conducted for profit or commercial gain; and
             63          (D) are conducted in a research facility, as defined by division rule, that is associated
             64      with a university or college in the state accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges
             65      and Universities;
             66          (iii) the designee protects the information as a business associate of the Department of
             67      Health; and
             68          (iv) the identity of the prescribers, patients, and pharmacies in the database are
             69      de-identified, confidential, not disclosed in any manner to the designee or to any individual
             70      who is not directly involved in the scientific studies;
             71          (e) a licensed practitioner having authority to prescribe controlled substances, to the
             72      extent the information:
             73          (i) (A) relates specifically to a current or prospective patient of the practitioner; and
             74          (B) is provided to or sought by the practitioner for the purpose of:
             75          (I) prescribing or considering prescribing any controlled substance to the current or
             76      prospective patient;
             77          (II) diagnosing the current or prospective patient;
             78          (III) providing medical treatment or medical advice to the current or prospective
             79      patient; or
             80          (IV) determining whether the current or prospective patient:
             81          (Aa) is attempting to fraudulently obtain a controlled substance from the practitioner;
             82      or
             83          (Bb) has fraudulently obtained, or attempted to fraudulently obtain, a controlled
             84      substance from the practitioner;
             85          (ii) (A) relates specifically to a former patient of the practitioner; and
             86          (B) is provided to or sought by the practitioner for the purpose of determining whether
             87      the former patient has fraudulently obtained, or has attempted to fraudulently obtain, a
             88      controlled substance from the practitioner;
             89          (iii) relates specifically to an individual who has access to the practitioner's Drug


             90      Enforcement Administration identification number, and the practitioner suspects that the
             91      individual may have used the practitioner's Drug Enforcement Administration identification
             92      number to fraudulently acquire or prescribe a controlled substance;
             93          (iv) relates to the practitioner's own prescribing practices, except when specifically
             94      prohibited by the division by administrative rule;
             95          (v) relates to the use of the controlled substance database by an employee of the
             96      practitioner, described in Subsection (2)(f); or
             97          (vi) relates to any use of the practitioner's Drug Enforcement Administration
             98      identification number to obtain, attempt to obtain, prescribe, or attempt to prescribe, a
             99      controlled substance;
             100          (f) in accordance with Subsection (3)(a), an employee of a practitioner described in
             101      Subsection (2)(e), for a purpose described in Subsection (2)(e)(i) or (ii), if:
             102          (i) the employee is designated by the practitioner as an individual authorized to access
             103      the information on behalf of the practitioner;
             104          (ii) the practitioner provides written notice to the division of the identity of the
             105      employee; and
             106          (iii) the division:
             107          (A) grants the employee access to the database; and
             108          (B) provides the employee with a password that is unique to that employee to access
             109      the database in order to permit the division to comply with the requirements of Subsection
             110      58-37f-203 (3)(b) with respect to the employee;
             111          (g) an employee of the same business that employs a licensed practitioner under
             112      Subsection (2)(e) if:
             113          (i) the employee is designated by the practitioner as an individual authorized to access
             114      the information on behalf of the practitioner;
             115          (ii) the practitioner and the employing business provide written notice to the division of
             116      the identity of the designated employee; and
             117          (iii) the division:
             118          (A) grants the employee access to the database; and
             119          (B) provides the employee with a password that is unique to that employee to access
             120      the database in order to permit the division to comply with the requirements of Subsection


             121      58-37f-203 (3)(b) with respect to the employee;
             122          (h) a licensed pharmacist having authority to dispense a controlled substance to the
             123      extent the information is provided or sought for the purpose of:
             124          (i) dispensing or considering dispensing any controlled substance; or
             125          (ii) determining whether a person:
             126          (A) is attempting to fraudulently obtain a controlled substance from the pharmacist; or
             127          (B) has fraudulently obtained, or attempted to fraudulently obtain, a controlled
             128      substance from the pharmacist;
             129          (i) in accordance with Subsection (3)(a), a licensed pharmacy technician who is an
             130      employee of a pharmacy as defined in Section 58-17b-102 , for the purposes described in
             131      Subsection (2)(h)(i) or (ii), if:
             132          (i) the employee is designated by the pharmacist-in-charge as an individual authorized
             133      to access the information on behalf of a licensed pharmacist employed by the pharmacy;
             134          (ii) the pharmacist-in-charge provides written notice to the division of the identity of
             135      the employee; and
             136          (iii) the division:
             137          (A) grants the employee access to the database; and
             138          (B) provides the employee with a password that is unique to that employee to access
             139      the database in order to permit the division to comply with the requirements of Subsection
             140      58-37f-203 (3)(b) with respect to the employee;
             141          [(i)] (j) federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, and state and local
             142      prosecutors, engaged as a specified duty of their employment in enforcing laws:
             143          (i) regulating controlled substances;
             144          (ii) investigating insurance fraud, Medicaid fraud, or Medicare fraud; or
             145          (iii) providing information about a criminal defendant to defense counsel, upon request
             146      during the discovery process, for the purpose of establishing a defense in a criminal case;
             147          [(j)] (k) employees of the Office of Internal Audit and Program Integrity within the
             148      Department of Health who are engaged in their specified duty of ensuring Medicaid program
             149      integrity under Section 26-18-2.3 ;
             150          [(k)] (l) a mental health therapist, if:
             151          (i) the information relates to a patient who is:


             152          (A) enrolled in a licensed substance abuse treatment program; and
             153          (B) receiving treatment from, or under the direction of, the mental health therapist as
             154      part of the patient's participation in the licensed substance abuse treatment program described
             155      in Subsection (2)(k)(i)(A);
             156          (ii) the information is sought for the purpose of determining whether the patient is
             157      using a controlled substance while the patient is enrolled in the licensed substance abuse
             158      treatment program described in Subsection (2)(k)(i)(A); and
             159          (iii) the licensed substance abuse treatment program described in Subsection
             160      (2)(k)(i)(A) is associated with a practitioner who:
             161          (A) is a physician, a physician assistant, an advance practice registered nurse, or a
             162      pharmacist; and
             163          (B) is available to consult with the mental health therapist regarding the information
             164      obtained by the mental health therapist, under this Subsection (2)(k), from the database;
             165          [(l)] (m) an individual who is the recipient of a controlled substance prescription
             166      entered into the database, upon providing evidence satisfactory to the division that the
             167      individual requesting the information is in fact the individual about whom the data entry was
             168      made;
             169          [(m)] (n) the inspector general, or a designee of the inspector general, of the Office of
             170      Inspector General of Medicaid Services, for the purpose of fulfilling the duties described in
             171      Title 63A, Chapter 13, Part 2, Office and Powers; and
             172          [(n)] (o) the following licensed physicians for the purpose of reviewing and offering an
             173      opinion on an individual's request for workers' compensation benefits under Title 34A, Chapter
             174      2, Workers' Compensation Act, or Title 34A, Chapter 3, Utah Occupational Disease Act:
             175          (i) a member of the medical panel described in Section 34A-2-601 ; or
             176          (ii) a physician offering a second opinion regarding treatment.
             177          (3) (a) A practitioner described in Subsection (2)(e) may designate up to three
             178      employees to access information from the database under Subsection (2)(f), (2)(g), (2)(i), or
             179      (4)(c).
             180          (b) The division shall make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
             181      Administrative Rulemaking Act, to:
             182          (i) establish background check procedures to determine whether an employee


             183      designated under Subsection (2)(f), (2)(g), or (4)(c) should be granted access to the database;
             184      and
             185          (ii) establish the information to be provided by an emergency room employee under
             186      Subsection (4).
             187          (c) The division shall grant an employee designated under Subsection (2)(f), (2)(g), or
             188      (4)(c) access to the database, unless the division determines, based on a background check, that
             189      the employee poses a security risk to the information contained in the database.
             190          (4) (a) An individual who is employed in the emergency room of a hospital may
             191      exercise access to the database under this Subsection (4) on behalf of a licensed practitioner if
             192      the individual is designated under Subsection (4)(c) and the licensed practitioner:
             193          (i) is employed in the emergency room;
             194          (ii) is treating an emergency room patient for an emergency medical condition; and
             195          (iii) requests that an individual employed in the emergency room and designated under
             196      Subsection (4)(c) obtain information regarding the patient from the database as needed in the
             197      course of treatment.
             198          (b) The emergency room employee obtaining information from the database shall,
             199      when gaining access to the database, provide to the database the name and any additional
             200      identifiers regarding the requesting practitioner as required by division administrative rule
             201      established under Subsection (3)(b).
             202          (c) An individual employed in the emergency room under this Subsection (4) may
             203      obtain information from the database as provided in Subsection (4)(a) if:
             204          (i) the employee is designated by the practitioner as an individual authorized to access
             205      the information on behalf of the practitioner;
             206          (ii) the practitioner and the hospital operating the emergency room provide written
             207      notice to the division of the identity of the designated employee; and
             208          (iii) the division:
             209          (A) grants the employee access to the database; and
             210          (B) provides the employee with a password that is unique to that employee to access
             211      the database in order to permit the division to comply with the requirements of Subsection
             212      58-37f-203 (3)(b) with respect to the employee.
             213          (d) The division may impose a fee, in accordance with Section 63J-1-504 , on a


             214      practitioner who designates an employee under Subsection (2)(f), (2)(g), or (4)(c) to pay for the
             215      costs incurred by the division to conduct the background check and make the determination
             216      described in Subsection (3)(b).
             217          (5) (a) An individual who is granted access to the database based on the fact that the
             218      individual is a licensed practitioner or a mental health therapist shall be denied access to the
             219      database when the individual is no longer licensed.
             220          (b) An individual who is granted access to the database based on the fact that the
             221      individual is a designated employee of a licensed practitioner shall be denied access to the
             222      database when the practitioner is no longer licensed.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 2-3-14 2:18 PM


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