Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Reauthorization Act of 2015”.
National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Reauthorization Act of 2015
AN ACT
To amend and reauthorize the controlled substance monitoring program under section 399O of the Public Health Service Act, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Amendment to purpose
Paragraph (1) of section 2 of the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–60) is amended to read as follows:
“(1) foster the establishment of State-administered controlled substance monitoring systems in order to ensure that—
“(A) health care providers have access to the accurate, timely prescription history information that they may use as a tool for the early identification of patients at risk for addiction in order to initiate appropriate medical interventions and avert the tragic personal, family, and community consequences of untreated addiction; and
“(B) appropriate law enforcement, regulatory, and State professional licensing authorities have access to prescription history information for the purposes of investigating drug diversion and prescribing and dispensing practices of errant prescribers or pharmacists; and”
Sec. 3 Amendments to controlled substance monitoring program
Section 399O of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–3) is amended—
in subsection (a)—
in paragraph (1)—
in subparagraph (A), by striking “or”;
in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(C) to maintain and operate an existing State-controlled substance monitoring program.”
in paragraph (3), by inserting “by the Secretary” after “Grants awarded”;
by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
“(b) Minimum requirements—The Secretary shall maintain and, as appropriate, supplement or revise (after publishing proposed additions and revisions in the Federal Register and receiving public comments thereon) minimum requirements for criteria to be used by States for purposes of clauses (ii), (v), (vi), and (vii) of subsection (c)(1)(A).”
in subsection (c)—
in paragraph (1)(B)—
in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “(a)(1)(B)” and inserting “(a)(1)(B) or (a)(1)(C)”;
in clause (i), by striking “program to be improved” and inserting “program to be improved or maintained”;
by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as clauses (iv) and (v), respectively;
by inserting after clause (ii) the following:
“(iii) a plan to apply the latest advances in health information technology in order to incorporate prescription drug monitoring program data directly into the workflow of prescribers and dispensers to ensure timely access to patients’ controlled prescription drug history;”
in clause (iv), as redesignated, by inserting before the semicolon at the end “and at least one health information technology system such as an electronic health records system, a health information exchange, or an e-prescribing system”; and
in clause (v), as redesignated, by striking “public health” and inserting “public health or public safety”;
in paragraph (3)—
by striking “If a State that submits” and inserting the following:
“(A) In general—If a State that submits”
by striking the period at the end and inserting “and include timelines for full implementation of such interoperability. The State shall also describe the manner in which it will achieve interoperability between its monitoring program and health information technology systems, as allowable under State law, and include timelines for implementation of such interoperability.”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) Monitoring of efforts—The Secretary shall monitor State efforts to achieve interoperability, as described in subparagraph (A).”
in paragraph (5)—
by striking “implement or improve” and inserting “establish, improve, or maintain”; and
by adding at the end the following: “The Secretary shall redistribute any funds that are so returned among the remaining grantees under this section in accordance with the formula described in subsection (a)(2)(B).”;
in subsection (d)—
in the matter preceding paragraph (1)—
by striking “In implementing or improving” and all that follows through “(a)(1)(B)” and inserting “In establishing, improving, or maintaining a controlled substance monitoring program under this section, a State shall comply, or with respect to a State that applies for a grant under subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection (a)(1)”; and
by striking “public health” and inserting “public health or public safety”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(5) The State shall report to the Secretary on—
“(A) as appropriate, interoperability with the controlled substance monitoring programs of Federal departments and agencies;
“(B) as appropriate, interoperability with health information technology systems such as electronic health records systems, health information exchanges, and e-prescribing systems; and
“(C) whether or not the State provides automatic, real-time or daily information about a patient when a practitioner (or the designee of a practitioner, where permitted) requests information about such patient.”
in subsections (e), (f)(1), and (g), by striking “implementing or improving” each place it appears and inserting “establishing, improving, or maintaining”;
in subsection (f)—
in paragraph (1)—
in subparagraph (B), by striking “misuse of a schedule II, III, or IV substance” and inserting “misuse of a controlled substance included in schedule II, III, or IV of section 202(c) of the Controlled Substance Act”; and
in subparagraph (D), by inserting “a State substance abuse agency,” after “a State health department,”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(3) Evaluation and reporting—Subject to subsection (g), a State receiving a grant under subsection (a) shall provide the Secretary with aggregate data and other information determined by the Secretary to be necessary to enable the Secretary—
“(A) to evaluate the success of the State’s program in achieving its purposes; or
“(B) to prepare and submit the report to Congress required by subsection (l)(2).
“(4) Research by other entities—A department, program, or administration receiving nonidentifiable information under paragraph (1)(D) may make such information available to other entities for research purposes.”
by redesignating subsections (h) through (n) as subsections (j) through (p), respectively;
in subsections (c)(1)(A)(iv) and (d)(4), by striking “subsection (h)” each place it appears and inserting “subsection (j)”;
by inserting after subsection (g) the following:
“(h) Education and access to the monitoring system—A State receiving a grant under subsection (a) shall take steps to—
“(1) facilitate prescriber and dispenser use of the State’s controlled substance monitoring system;
“(2) educate prescribers and dispensers on the benefits of the system both to them and society; and
“(3) facilitate linkage to the State substance abuse agency and substance abuse disorder services.
“(i) Consultation with Attorney General—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall consult with the Attorney General of the United States and other relevant Federal officials to—
“(1) ensure maximum coordination of controlled substance monitoring programs and related activities; and
“(2) minimize duplicative efforts and funding.”
in subsection (l)(2)(A), as redesignated by paragraph (7)—
in clause (ii), by inserting “; established or strengthened initiatives to ensure linkages to substance use disorder services;” before “or affected patient access”; and
in clause (iii), by inserting “and between controlled substance monitoring programs and health information technology systems” before “, including an assessment”;
by striking subsection (m) (relating to preference), as redesignated by paragraph (7);
by redesignating subsections (n) through (p), as redesignated by paragraph (7), as subsections (m) through (o), respectively;
in subsection (m)(1), as redesignated by paragraph (12), by striking “establishment, implementation, or improvement” and inserting “establishment, improvement, or maintenance”;
in subsection (n), as redesignated by paragraph (12)—
in paragraph (5)—
by striking “means the ability” and inserting the following:
“(A) the ability”
by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) sharing of State controlled substance monitoring program information with a health information technology system such as an electronic health records system, a health information exchange, or an e-prescribing system.”
in paragraph (7), by striking “pharmacy” and inserting “pharmacist”; and
in paragraph (8), by striking “and the District of Columbia” and inserting “, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth or territory of the United States”; and
by amending subsection (o), as redesignated by paragraph (12), to read as follows:
“(o) Authorization of appropriations—To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years from 2016 through 2020.”