2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 2-A - Prescription Drugs › Title 3 - Prescription Forms, Electronic Prescribing and Language Assistance › 281 - Official New York State Prescription Forms.

§  281.  Official New York state prescription forms. 1. In addition to
the requirements of section sixty-eight hundred ten of the education law
or article thirty-three of this chapter, all  prescriptions  written  in
this  state  by  a  person  authorized  by  this  state  to  issue  such
prescriptions  shall  be  on  serialized   official   New   York   state
prescription  forms  provided  by  the  department.  Such forms shall be
furnished to practitioners authorized  to  write  prescriptions  and  to
institutional    dispensers,   and   shall   be   non-reproducible   and
non-transferable.   The   commissioner,   in   consultation   with   the
commissioner  of education, may promulgate emergency regulations for the
electronic transmission of prescriptions from prescribers to pharmacists
or for ordering and  filling  requirements  of  prescription  drugs  for
prescriptions  written  for  recipients  eligible for medical assistance
pursuant to title eleven of article five of the social services law, for
participants  in  the  program  for  elderly  pharmaceutical   insurance
coverage pursuant to title three of article two of the elder law and for
prescriptions  written pursuant to article thirty-three of this chapter.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit the commissioner in  consultation
with  the  commissioner  of  education  from promulgating any additional
emergency regulations in furtherance of this subdivision.
2.  The  commissioner,  in  consultation  with  the  commissioner   of
education,  shall  promulgate  regulations  requiring  that prescription
forms and  electronic  prescriptions  include:  (a)  a  section  wherein
prescribers  may  indicate  whether  an  individual  is  limited English
proficient, as defined in section sixty-eight hundred twenty-nine of the
education law; and (b) if the patient is limited English  proficient,  a
line  where  the prescriber may specify the preferred language indicated
by the patient. Failure to include such indication on the  part  of  the
prescriber shall not invalidate the prescription.
3.  On  or  before  December  thirty-first,  two  thousand twelve, the
commissioner shall promulgate  regulations,  in  consultation  with  the
commissioner   of   education,  establishing  standards  for  electronic
prescriptions. Notwithstanding any other provision of  this  section  or
any  other  law to the contrary, effective three years subsequent to the
date on which such regulations are promulgated, no  person  shall  issue
any  prescription  in  this  state  unless  such prescription is made by
electronic prescription from the person issuing the  prescription  to  a
pharmacy  in  accordance  with  such  regulatory  standards,  except for
prescriptions: (a) issued by veterinarians; (b) issued in  circumstances
where   electronic   prescribing  is  not  available  due  to  temporary
technological or electrical failure, as set  forth  in  regulation;  (c)
issued  by practitioners who have received a waiver or a renewal thereof
for a specified period determined by the commissioner, not to exceed one
year, from the requirement to use electronic prescribing, pursuant to  a
process  established  in regulation by the commissioner, in consultation
with  the  commissioner  of  education,  due   to   economic   hardship,
technological  limitations that are not reasonably within the control of
the practitioner, or other exceptional circumstance demonstrated by  the
practitioner;  (d)  issued  by a practitioner under circumstances where,
notwithstanding the practitioner's present ability to make an electronic
prescription  as  required  by  this  subdivision,   such   practitioner
reasonably  determines  that  it would be impractical for the patient to
obtain substances prescribed by  electronic  prescription  in  a  timely
manner,  and  such  delay  would  adversely impact the patient's medical
condition, provided that  if  such  prescription  is  for  a  controlled
substance,  the quantity of controlled substances does not exceed a five
day supply if the controlled substance were used in accordance with  the

directions for use; or (e) issued by a practitioner to be dispensed by a
pharmacy located outside the state, as set forth in regulation.
3-a.  A  pharmacy  that  receives  an electronic prescription from the
person issuing the prescription may, if the prescription  has  not  been
dispensed  and  at  the request of the patient or a person authorized to
make the request on behalf  of  the  patient,  immediately  transfer  or
forward  such  prescription to an alternative pharmacy designated by the
requesting party.
4. In the case of a prescription for a controlled substance issued  by
a practitioner under paragraph (b) of subdivision three of this section,
the  practitioner shall indicate in the patient's health record that the
prescription was issued  other  than  electronically  due  to  temporary
technological or electrical failure.
5.  In the case of a prescription for a controlled substance issued by
a practitioner under paragraph (d) or (e) of subdivision three  of  this
section,   the  practitioner  shall,  upon  issuing  such  prescription,
indicate in the patient's health record either that the prescription was
issued other than electronically because it (a) was impractical to issue
an electronic prescription in a timely manner and such delay would  have
adversely  impacted  the  patient's  medical condition, or (b) was to be
dispensed by a pharmacy located outside the state.
6. The waiver process established in regulation pursuant to  paragraph
(c)   of  subdivision  three  of  this  section  shall  provide  that  a
practitioner prescribing under a waiver must notify  the  department  in
writing   promptly   upon  gaining  the  capability  to  use  electronic
prescribing, and that a waiver shall terminate within a specified period
of time after the practitioner gains such capability.
* 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or any  other
law  to  the  contrary,  a  practitioner  shall not be required to issue
prescriptions electronically if he or she certifies to  the  department,
in  a  manner specified by the department, that he or she will not issue
more than  twenty-five  prescriptions  during  a  twelve  month  period.
Prescriptions  in  both  oral  and  written  form  for  both  controlled
substances  and  non-controlled  substances   shall   be   included   in
determining whether the practitioner will reach the limit of twenty-five
prescriptions.
(a)  A certification shall be submitted in advance of the twelve-month
certification period, except that a twelve-month certification submitted
on  or  before  July  first,  two  thousand  sixteen,  may  begin  March
twenty-seven, two thousand sixteen.
(b) A practitioner who has made a certification under this subdivision
may  submit  an  additional certification on or before the expiration of
the current twelve-month certification period, for a  maximum  of  three
twelve-month certifications.
(c)  A  practitioner  may  make a certification under this subdivision
regardless of whether he or she has previously received a  waiver  under
paragraph (c) of subdivision three of this section.
* NB Repealed June 1, 2026