2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 12 - PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS (§§ 12-1-101 — 12-315-310) › HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS (§§ 12-170-101 — 12-315-310) › Article 280 - PHARMACISTS, PHARMACY BUSINESSES, AND PHARMACEUTICALS (§§ 12-280-101 — 12-280-604) › Part 4 - ELECTRONIC MONITORING OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS (§§ 12-280-401 — 12-280-410) › Section 12-280-403 - Prescription drug use monitoring program - registration required - applications - rules - appropriation - repeal

(1)
The board shall develop or procure a prescription drug electronic program to track information regarding prescriptions for controlled substances dispensed in Colorado, including the following information:
(a)
The date the prescription was dispensed;
(b)
The name of the patient and the practitioner;
(c)
The name and amount of the controlled substance;
(d)
The method of payment;
(e)
The name of the dispensing pharmacy; and
(f)
Any other data elements necessary to determine whether a patient is visiting multiple practitioners or pharmacies, or both, to receive the same or similar medication.
(2)
(a)
Each practitioner licensed in this state who holds a current registration issued by the federal drug enforcement administration, each pharmacist licensed in this state, and each medical director shall register and maintain a user account with the program.
(b)
When registering with the program or at any time after registration, a practitioner may authorize designees to access the program under section
12-280-404 (3)(b) or (3)(d)
on behalf of the practitioner, a pharmacist may authorize designees to access the program under section
12-280-404 (3)(f)
, and a medical director may authorize designees to access the program under section 12-280-404 (3)(m) if:
(I)
(A)
The authorized designee is employed by, or is under contract with, the same professional practice as the practitioner or medical director; or
(B)
The authorized designee of the pharmacist is employed by, or is under contract with, the same prescription drug outlet as the pharmacist; and
(II)
The practitioner, pharmacist, or medical director takes reasonable steps to ensure that the designee is sufficiently competent in the use of the program; and
(III)
The practitioner, pharmacist, or medical director remains responsible for:
(A)
Ensuring that access to the program by the practitioner's or medical director designee is limited to the purposes authorized in section
12-280-404
(3)(b), (3)(d), or (3)(m), or that access to the program by the pharmacist's designee is limited to the purposes authorized in section
12-280-404 (3)(f)
, as the case may be, and that access to the program occurs in a manner that protects the confidentiality of the information obtained from the program; and
(B)
Any negligent breach of confidentiality of information obtained from the program by the designee when the designee accessed the program on behalf of a supervising practitioner, pharmacist, or medical director.
(c)
A practitioner, pharmacist, or medical director is subject to penalties pursuant to section
12-280-406
for violating the requirements of subsection (2)(b) of this section.
(d)
Any individual authorized as a designee of a practitioner or pharmacist pursuant to subsection (2)(b) of this section shall register as a designee of a practitioner or pharmacist with the program for program data access in accordance with section
12-280-404 (3)(b), (3)(d), or (3)(f)
, as applicable, and board rules.
(3)
Each practitioner and each dispensing pharmacy shall disclose to a patient receiving a controlled substance that the patient's identifying prescription information will be entered into the program database and may be accessed for limited purposes by specified individuals.
(4)
The board shall establish a method and format for prescription drug outlets to convey the necessary information to the board or its designee. The method must not require more than a one-time entry of data per patient per prescription by a prescription drug outlet.
(5)
The division may contract with any individual or public or private agency or organization in carrying out the data collection and processing duties required by this part 4.
(6)
(a)
On or before December 1, 2021, the division shall fully enable the expansion, utilization, and adoption of the United States bureau of justice assistance RxCheck, both for interstate data sharing and for integrating the program into the electronic medical records of practitioners and health systems within the state. Practitioners and health systems, through public and private integration organizations that comply with the business associate requirements of the federal "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996", as amended,
42 U.S.C. sec. 1320d
to
1320d-9
, and its related privacy and security regulations, are authorized to directly connect to the program through RxCheck. In order to complete the required RxCheck enablement, the division may authorize public or private integration organizations to provide to the division reasonable and necessary program query audit reports should audit reporting functionality not be sufficient for the division through RxCheck. Notwithstanding the enablement of RxCheck described in this subsection (6), the program, whether developed by the board or procured, must allow direct application program interface connections to the program through public and private integration organizations that comply with the business associate requirements of the "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996", as amended,
42 U.S.C. sec. 1320d
to
1320d-9
, and its related privacy and security regulations.
(b)
For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate money from the marijuana tax cash fund created in section
39-28.8-501 (1)
to the department for appropriation to the division for the purposes of this subsection (6).
(7)
(a)
Subject to available funding, the division shall solicit applications from public and private integration organizations and, on or before July 1, 2024, approve:
(I)
Qualified integration organizations that practitioners and pharmacists may use to integrate access of and data entry into the program; and
(II)
Qualified integration organizations that practitioners and pharmacists may use to integrate access of and data entry into a patient's electronic medical records.
(b)
The division shall implement a process whereby practitioners and pharmacists who have not integrated their electronic medical records and the program may apply for and receive money from a qualified integration organization approved by the division to help defray all or a portion of the costs to integrate the program and electronic medical records.
(c)
The board may promulgate rules to implement this subsection (7).
(d)
(I)
For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall transfer two million forty-five thousand one hundred ninety-eight dollars for the administrative costs of this subsection (7) from the general fund to the prescription drug monitoring fund created in section
12-280-405
. The division may use the money transferred to the prescription drug monitoring fund pursuant to this subsection (7) for the purposes of this subsection (7). Any money transferred pursuant to this subsection (7) not expended prior to July 1, 2023, shall remain in the fund for the same purpose through December 30, 2024.
(II)
This subsection (7)(d) is repealed, effective December 31, 2024.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 440,§ 3, eff. 6/6/2024.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 397, § 9, eff. 8/10/2022.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 265, § 2, eff. 5/27/2022.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 314, § 30, eff. 9/1/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 364, § 15, eff. 7/1/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 285, § 1, eff. 7/1/2021.
Renumbered from C.R.S. §
12-42.5-403
and amended by 2019 Ch. 136, § 1, eff. 10/1/2019.
Amended by 2014 Ch. 239, § 2, eff. 5/21/2014.
(1) This section is similar to former § 12-42.5-403 as it existed prior to 2019.
(2) Section 20 of chapter 364 (HB 21-1276), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section takes effect only if SB 21-098 becomes law and takes effect either upon the effective date of HB 21-1276 or SB 21-098, whichever is later. SB 21-098 became law, and both bills have an effective date of July 1, 2021.
2022 Ch. 397, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1276, see section 1 of chapter 364, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.