Earlier this year, the Alliance for Connected Care, the American Telemedicine Association, ATA Action, the Consumer Technology Association, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, and the Partnership to Advance Virtual Care sent a letter to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging the agency to promptly release a revised proposed rule to allow for – and regulate – the prescribing of controlled substances through telemedicine. The letter, signed by 214 stakeholders, emphasized that current flexibilities allowing for the remote prescribing of controlled substances are set to expire at the end of 2024 and regulatory action must be taken to ensure the flexibilities continue.
In the letter, the stakeholders thank the DEA for the actions taken to ensure continued patient access to care via telemedicine through the end of 2024 but noted that an immediate update to the rules was also necessary for several reasons. When announcing the extension through 2024, the DEA noted that they were “continu[ing] to carefully consider the input received and are working to promulgate a final set of telemedicine regulations by the fall of 2024.”
The authors state that “this rule is crucial for access to mental health, substance use disorder, and other telehealth care.” They also cite to the more than 38,000 public comments as a reason for why the DEA needs to issue a proposed update sooner rather than later, “given the complexity of these issues and the significant stakeholder interest.”
Additionally, the letter notes that if the DEA were to implement a special registration process for telehealth prescribers, as has been proposed by the DEA and many stakeholders, a “significant operational lead time would be needed” not only for the DEA but also practitioners, pharmacies, and all other related service providers to ensure the process was properly implemented. In addition to the operational and implementation problems with a rule proposed later in the year, the letter also notes that “there will be significant operational and staff training needs for pharmacies and other parts of the healthcare delivery system to ensure patients uninterrupted access to needed medial treatments offered through telehealth.”
The letter concludes by asking for the DEA’s “national leadership” on the issue, “to set a clear path forward for the nation and to encourage more consistent definitions and aligned requirements from state regulatory bodies.” This will help to simplify compliance for health care providers and encourage telemedicine providers to offer care in more underserved areas, without geographic barriers.