Just six short months ago, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation postponing New York's ePrescribing mandate, which effectively postponed the ePrescribing requirements laid forth in the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing, now commonly referred to as (Washington Times), for one year. This legislation, passed into law in 2012, requires that all prescriptions, both legend and controlled, must be sent from a prescriber to a pharmacy electronically.

New York prescribers are now only six months away from the new, March 27, 2016 deadline requiring them to prescribe medications electronically, making it imperative for them to understand and adhere to the requirements imposed on them by I-STOP, which are as follows:

1. Prescribers must select an EPCS-certified ePrescribing vendor that will allow them to send all prescriptions electronically.
2. Prescribers must successfully undergo identify proofing in accordance with standards set by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
3. Prescribers must register their selected ePrescribing vendor with the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) through a process known as ROPES (Registration of Official Prescriptions and E-prescribing Systems).