Question about DEA Number

[Still Kickin]

I have yet to do an actual psychiatry rotation yet during this my intern year, but on other rotations I have had some of the more senior residents tell me it is a bad idea to include your "DEA" number when writing prescriptions. They say the pharmacy can always call you if they need it.

Any thoughts on this?

First of all, I'm not sure I actually even have a "DEA" number at this point in the game. I have a trainee's license number and we were told during intern orientation to use a number that is a combination of the hospital's ?DEA? number and our trainee license number when writing prescriptions. I also have a state "board of narcotics" registration number, which I haven't included on any prescriptions.

The people who have told me not to include the number state there could be a lot of repercussions if someone "steals" my DEA number & tries to use it. (Is this true? If so - how common is this problem [I would imagine rather common, right?] and what are the consequences to the provider if this happens?) (And is there any way to remedy the trouble once it has already happened.)

During med school I spent some of my psych rotation in an outpatient practice that had 5 or 6 psychiatrists. Their prescription pads had ALL of the docs listed at the top of the Rx with EACH of their state license numbers AND DEA numbers listed after their name, and the prescribing doctor would just tic off in a little box in front of their name to indicate which of the many docs was actually writing a given prescription. If it's so dangerous to be letting this info be accessible to patients then why would people have prescription pads like that where all the info is pre-printed?

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[kugel]

I've always been careful about my DEA number for the same reasons, but my peers swear that it does not matter and people forging Rx's will find my number someplace or else use someone else's. I write very few Rx's for Benzo's or opiates, so it's rarely an issue. With my NPI number, any pharmacy should be able to look up my DEA number (as far as I know). I'm always careful to put down the correct # for any pharmacy to call if they need more info.

I'm probably too careful about such things that probably don't really matter.

 

[Still Kickin]

Thanks for the reply, kugel.

Anyone else want to contribute their 2-cents worth?

(And just out of curiosity, kugel - does this mean you are putting your NPI # on prescriptions with the assumption that if a pharmacy needs your DEA number they will be able to cross-reference it somewhere? [If so, just wondering how this would prevent prescription forgery - couldn't the forger use your NPI number, which the pharmacy would then use to cross-reference your DEA number?])

The residents who have told me not to include my "DEA" number are not including ANY identifying numbers on their Rx's of any sort. Anyone have any thoughts on *that*? Is it unsafe to include any numbers at all? Doesn't this mean I'm going to have a lot of annoying phone calls from pharmacies trying to verify the legitimacy of the Rx?

 

[whopper]

Last time I checked, this is the way it works for residents: If you did not apply and pay the gov the fee for a DEA #, then you don't have one. Residents are given the power to prescribe medications within an institution such as a hospital in the form of a hospital order (and of course an attending has to countersign and its their responsibility), but prescriptions outside that facility require the attending's signature.

NPIs are not a big deal as far as I'm aware. Several doctor's I've seen put their NPI number on a website for everyone to see, so either its not a big deal, or those doctors are doing something very wrong.

As for DEA numbers, if you really want to avoid giving it out for patients to see, you call call up the pharmacy and give it directly to them so your patient won't see the number.

 

[Still Kickin]

Last time I checked, this is the way it works for residents: If you did not apply and pay the gov the fee for a DEA #, then you don't have one. Residents are given the power to prescribe medications within an institution such as a hospital in the form of a hospital order (and of course an attending has to countersign and its their responsibility), but prescriptions outside that facility require the attending's signature.

I think this stuff varies by state. Where I went to med school, people could get their license starting in PGY-2 and anyone who had a license could write a Rx.

Where I'm training now, we have "trainee's" licenses, and most definitely can write (outside) prescriptions in PGY-1. There should be 100s of pill bottles by now floating around in medicine cabinets all over my city with "Dr. Still Kickin" listed as the provider.
However, we are only allowed to write Rx's for patients we have seen in the (supervised) setting of our training program - but I think it's "scout's honor" where that one is concerned. (Not that I'm about to try "bending" the rules - I just don't see how a pharmacy would be able to verify if you had seen that patient in a "supervised" setting or were just out writing Rx's on the hospital's Rx pads willy-nilly.)