§ 456.703 Drug use review program. ( a ) *General.* Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, in order for FFP to be paid or made available under section 1903 of the Act for covered outpatient drugs, the State must have in operation, by not later than January 1, 1993, a DUR program consisting of prospective drug review, retrospective drug use review, and an educational program that meets the requirements of this subpart. The goal of the State's DUR program must be to ensure appropriate drug therapy, while permitting sufficient professional prerogatives to allow for individualized drug therapy. ( b ) *Exception for drugs dispensed to certain nursing facility residents.* Prospective drug review and retrospective drug use review (including interventions and education) under the DUR program are not required for drugs dispensed to residents of nursing facilities that are in compliance with the drug regimen review procedures set forth in part 483 of this chapter. This does not preclude the State agency from making such drugs subject to prospective DUR or retrospective DUR or both, provided the State agency makes the drugs subject to all the requirements of this subpart applicable to the respective review. ( c ) *Exemption for certain covered outpatient drugs dispensed by hospitals and health maintenance organizations.* ( 1 ) The State plan must provide that covered outpatient drugs dispensed by a hospital using drug formulary systems and billed to the plan at no more than the hospital's purchasing costs are not subject to the requirements of this subpart. Individual hospitals requesting this exemption must provide assurances to the State agency that they meet the requirements specified in section 1927(j)(2) of the Act. ( 2 ) The State plan must provide that covered outpatient drugs dispensed by health maintenance organizations are not subject to the requirements of this subpart. ( d ) *Use of predetermined standards.* A DUR program must assess drug use information against predetermined standards. ( e ) *Source of predetermined standards.* The predetermined standards must be— ( 1 ) Developed directly by the State or its contractor; ( 2 ) Obtained by the State through contracts with commercial vendors of DUR services; ( 3 ) Obtained by the State from independent organizations, such as the United States Pharmacopeial Convention, or entities receiving funding from the Public Health Service, CMS, or State agencies; or ( 4 ) Any combination of paragraphs (e)(1) through (e)(3) of this section. ( f ) *Requirements for predetermined standards.* The predetermined standards used in the DUR program must meet the following requirements: ( 1 ) The source materials for their development are consistent with peer-reviewed medical literature (that is, scientific, medical, and pharmaceutical publications in which original manuscripts are published only after having been critically reviewed by unbiased independent experts) and the following compendia: (i) American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information; (ii) United States Pharmacopeia-Drug Information; (iii) American Medical Association Drug Evaluations. ( 2 ) Differences between source materials were resolved by physicians and pharmacists developing consensus solutions. The consensus process means the reliance, by the criteria developers, on the expertise of physicians and pharmacists to evaluate differences in criteria source materials and to come to agreement on how differences should be resolved. ( 3 ) They are non-proprietary and readily available to providers of services. Systems and algorithms using the predetermined standards may remain proprietary. ( 4 ) They are clinically-based and scientifically valid. ( 5 ) The review based on clinical criteria uses predetermined standards to determine the population at risk of a clinically significant adverse medical result and applies standards, appropriate to this population, across providers and patients to determine the provider outliers whose prescribing, dispensing, or consumption practices may not conform to accepted standards of care. Various statistical measures (including mean, range, or other measures at the discretion of the State) may be applied to these data. Standards may be considered in deciding if an in-depth review is needed to determine whether to intervene once the potential therapeutic problems have been identified through the use of clinical criteria. ( 6 ) They have been tested against claims data prior to adoption in order to validate the level of possibly significant therapeutic problems without undue levels of false positives. ( 7 ) The predetermined standards for prospective and retrospective DUR are compatible. ( 8 ) They are subjected to ongoing evaluation and modification either as a result of actions by their developer or as a result of recommendations by the DUR Board. ( g ) *Access to predetermined standards.* Upon their adoption, predetermined standards must be available to the public. Pharmacists and physicians must be informed of the existence of predetermined standards and of how they can obtain copies of them. ( h ) *Minimum standards for DUR programs* — ( 1 ) *Minimum standards.* In operating their DUR programs, States must include the following minimum standards: (i) Prospective safety edit limitations for opioid prescriptions, as specified by the State, on: ( A ) Days' supply for patients not currently receiving opioid therapy for initial prescription fills; ( B ) Quantity of prescription dispensed for initial and subsequent prescription fills; ( C ) Therapeutically-duplicative initial and subsequent opioid prescription fills; and ( D ) Early refills, for subsequent prescription fills. (ii) Prospective safety edit limitations for opioid prescriptions, as specified by the State, on the maximum daily morphine milligram equivalent for treatment of pain, for initial and subsequent prescription fills. (iii) A retrospective claims review automated process that indicates prescription fills of opioids in excess of the prospective safety edit limitations specified by the state under paragraph (h)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section to provide for the ongoing review of opioid claims data to identify patterns of fraud, abuse, excessive utilization, inappropriate or medically unnecessary care, or prescribing or billing practices that indicate abuse or provision of inappropriate or medically unnecessary care among prescribers, pharmacists and individuals receiving Medicaid benefits. (iv) A retrospective claims review automated process and, at the option of the State, prospective safety edits that monitor when an individual is concurrently prescribed opioids and: ( A ) Benzodiazepines; or ( B ) Antipsychotics. (v) A program to monitor and manage the appropriate use of antipsychotic medications by children enrolled under the State plan, including any Medicaid expansion groups for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). (vi) A process to identify potential fraud or abuse of controlled substances by individuals enrolled under the State plan, health care providers prescribing drugs to individuals so enrolled, and pharmacies dispensing drugs to individuals so enrolled. (vii) Prospective safety edits, retrospective claims review automated processes, or a combination of these approaches as determined by the State, to identify when: ( A ) A beneficiary is prescribed an opioid after the beneficiary has been prescribed one or more drugs used for Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) of an opioid use disorder or has been diagnosed with an opioid use disorder, within a timeframe specified by the State, in the absence of a new indication to support utilization of opioids (such as new cancer diagnosis or entry into hospice care); and ( B ) A beneficiary could be at high risk of opioid overdose and should be considered for co-prescription or co-dispensing of any FDA-approved opioid antagonist/reversal agent. ( 2 ) *Exclusion.* The requirements in paragraphs (h)(1)(i) through (vii) of this section do not apply with respect to individuals receiving hospice or palliative care or treatment for cancer; individuals who are residents of long-term care facilities, intermediate care facilities for the intellectually disabled, or facilities that dispense frequently abused drugs through a contract with a single pharmacy; or other individuals the State elects to exempt. While States are not required to apply the requirements in paragraphs (h)(1)(i) through (vii) with respect to these individuals, States may elect to do so. ( i ) *Confidentiality of patient related data.* In implementing the DUR program, the agency must establish, in regulations or through other means, policies concerning confidentiality of patient related data that are consistent with applicable Federal confidentiality requirements at part 431, subpart F of this chapter; the State Pharmacy Practice Act; and the guidelines adopted by the State Board of Pharmacy or other relevant licensing bodies. [57 FR 49408, Nov. 2, 1992, as amended at 59 FR 48824, Sept. 23, 1994; 85 FR 87104, Dec. 31, 2020]