Best Practice document clarifies SB 1446 on opioid prescribing

Posted on: 10/31/18

Earlier this week, OHA distributed an important document to members clarifying some of the details around SB 1446. Click here to download “Oklahoma Senate Bill 1446 – Best Practice for an Act Regulating of Opioid Drugs.” This document is an attempt to alleviate the confusion surrounding the passage of SB 1446, which limited the writing of not only Schedule II opioids but all opioids by physicians. This document is currently endorsed by the Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA); Oklahoma Hospital Association (OHA); Oklahoma Osteopathic Association (OOA); the executive staff of the Oklahoma State Medical Licensure Board; the executive staff of the Oklahoma State Board of Osteopathic Examiners; and many others.

Also available are two documents produced by OSMA: “Sample written policy for Physicians for the Qualifying Opioid Patient” and “Sample Opioid Therapy Patient-Provider Agreement.” To access these documents, click here.

The “Best Practice” document represents our best efforts to describe the law on prescribing of opioids effective Nov. 1, 2018. OHA has interpreted SB 1466 to apply to all settings where a prescription is being filled at a retail pharmacy. If the patient is admitted and is only inpatient, SB 1466 does not apply under the language in the bill. Once the patient is discharged from acute care and is discharged as an outpatient, SB 1446 applies.

Please note the exemptions from SB 1446 include patients who are receiving active treatment of cancer, in hospice, receiving palliative care, or residents of a long-term care facility. There are two sections of SB 1446 impacting minors – informed consent and Patient-Provider Agreements for pain management.

OHA has been working with the organizations and associations that drafted the “Best Practice” document on an emergency rule change with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs to further address the seven-day limit on initial prescriptions for major surgery on persons confined to their home. The emergency rule was adopted and signed yesterday, and the “Best Practice” document will be updated soon to reflect the most recent changes. OHA will be posting any updated documents on the SB 1446 - Opioid Prescribing Guidelines page, on the OHA website.

If you have any questions, contact LaWanna Halstead at [email protected] or Sandra Harrison at [email protected]. (Sandra Harrison)