Virginia Code 54.1-2523.1: Criteria for indicators of misuse; Director’s authority to disclose information; intervention
A. The Director shall develop, in consultation with an advisory panel which shall include representatives of the Boards of Medicine and Pharmacy, the Department of Health, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, criteria for indicators of unusual patterns of prescribing or dispensing of covered substances by prescribers or dispensers and misuse of covered substances by recipients and a method for analysis of data collected by the Prescription Monitoring Program using the criteria for indicators of misuse to identify unusual patterns of prescribing or dispensing of covered substances by individual prescribers or dispensers or potential misuse of a covered substance by a recipient. The Director, in consultation with the panel, shall annually review controlled substance prescribing and dispensing patterns and shall (i) make any necessary changes to the criteria for unusual patterns of prescribing and dispensing required by this subsection and (ii) report any findings and recommendations for best practices to the Joint Commission on Health Care by November 1 of each year.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 54.1-2523.1
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Controlled substance: means a drug, substance or immediate precursor in Schedules I through VI of the Drug Control Act, Chapter 34 (§ 54. See Virginia Code 54.1-2519
- Covered substance: means all controlled substances included in Schedules II, III, and IV; controlled substances included in Schedule V for which a prescription is required; naloxone; and all drugs of concern that are required to be reported to the Prescription Monitoring Program, pursuant to this chapter. See Virginia Code 54.1-2519
- Department: means the Virginia Department of Health Professions. See Virginia Code 54.1-2519
- Director: means the Director of the Virginia Department of Health Professions. See Virginia Code 54.1-2519
- Dispenser: means a person or entity that (i) is authorized by law to dispense a covered substance or to maintain a stock of covered substances for the purpose of dispensing, and (ii) dispenses the covered substance to a citizen of the Commonwealth regardless of the location of the dispenser, or who dispenses such covered substance from a location in Virginia regardless of the location of the recipient. See Virginia Code 54.1-2519
- Prescriber: means a practitioner licensed in the Commonwealth who is authorized pursuant to §§ 54. See Virginia Code 54.1-2519
- Recipient: means a person who receives a covered substance from a dispenser and includes the owner of an animal patient. See Virginia Code 54.1-2519
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
B. In cases in which analysis of data collected by the Prescription Monitoring Program using the criteria for indicators of misuse indicates an unusual pattern of prescribing or dispensing of a covered substance by an individual prescriber or dispenser or potential misuse of a covered substance by a recipient, the Director may, in addition to the discretionary disclosure of information pursuant to § 54.1-2523:
1. Disclose information about the unusual prescribing or dispensing of a covered substance by an individual prescriber or dispenser to the Enforcement Division of the Department of Health Professions; or
2. Disclose information about the specific recipient to (i) the prescriber or prescribers who have prescribed a covered substance to the recipient for the purpose of intervention to prevent misuse of such covered substance or (ii) an agent who has completed the Virginia State Police Drug Diversion School designated by the Superintendent of State Police or designated by the chief law-enforcement officer of any county, city, or town or campus police department for the purpose of an investigation into possible drug diversion.
2005, cc. 637, 678; 2012, cc. 21, 71; 2013, c. 739; 2016, c. 98; 2018, cc. 190, 239.