News — DEA registration

There’s a rumor going around town. A new drug dealer has moved in. You soon find out… the rumor is about you. You are the new drug dealer in town. How? Let’s find out. It is important that dentists know and understand that issues related to controlled substances can be quite devastating. I will demonstrate. First, a few questions: Are your prescription pads and sedation drugs maintained under lock and key at all times? Who has access to them? If you print prescriptions using your dental software what safeguards do you have to prevent your employees from printing forged prescriptions?...

Ask yourself the following questions. Does anyone other than the dentist ever: Prepare prescriptions for controlled substances for the dentist’s signature? Call or fax prescriptions to a pharmacy? Handle controlled substances for ordering, inventorying, shipping/receiving, and/or preparing for the dentist’s administration to a patient? Look up patient/caregiver drug histories in the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP)? Look up the dentist’s prescribing history in the PMP? Transport controlled substances to a satellite office? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, your office should officially authorize the staff members who perform these functions to be in compliance with federal regulations regarding...

I tell all my clients to devise a system to track their credentials and their team members' as well....all of them. Dentists can be disciplined by their state Dental Board, disqualified by insurance companies, excluded from participation in government programs (Medicaid), even criminally prosecuted for practicing with expired credentials. While Dental Assistants and Hygienists are required to maintain their own licensure, Dentists can be disciplined for allowing them to practice with expired credentials, so, for this reason, it is essential that every staff members' credentials are carefully tracked and renewed promptly.Track the following:  1. Dental license2. Medical license (if applicable)3....