40.141 07/06
QUESTION:
Is a Medical Review Officer (MRO) permitted to accept an employee’s prescription for medication obtained over the Internet?
ANSWER:
An MRO is authorized to accept an employee’s prescription for medication obtained over the Internet only if there is proof that a legitimate doctor-patient relationship had been established.
The following four elements generally serve as an indication that a legitimate doctor-patient relationship has been established:
-- A patient has a medical complaint;
-- A medical history has been taken;
-- A physical examination has been performed; and
-- Some logical connection exists between the complaint, the medical history, the physical examination, and the drug prescribed.
Standing alone, the completion of an online questionnaire reviewed later by a pharmacy-employed doctor fails to establish a proper doctor-patient relationship.
The MRO should, at a minimum, consider the following items when verifying the test result:
-- The name, physical location, and state(s) of licensure of the prescribing practitioner;
-- Whether the employee was professionally evaluated for the current medical complaint by the prescribing practitioner, and the last time the employee was in direct contact with the prescribing practitioner;
-- Whether the employee initiated the request to the pharmacy for a particular medication; and
-- Whether a proper doctor-patient relationship existed.
It is the employee’s responsibility to provide sufficient documentation to address MRO inquiries as to whether there was a legitimate doctor-patient relationship.
This information was copied from a federal government resource. Always verify the accuracy of this information against the most recent version of the Code of Federal Regulations: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-A/part-40 or the Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance: https://www.transportation.gov/odapc.