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Beyond the Bite

The Official Blog of the Florida Dental Association

Tag: DOH

REMINDER: Mandatory Opioid Course Deadline is Thursday, Jan. 31!

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The deadline to take the mandatory opioid course to maintain your dental license is this Thursday, Jan. 31! Go to floridadental.org/opioidcourse to register and take this course.

Per HB 21, each person registered with the DEA and authorized to prescribe controlled substances shall complete a board-approved two-hour continuing education course on prescribing controlled substances by Jan. 31, 2019.

You MUST indicate whether you are registered with the DEA to prescribe controlled substances through the Florida Department of Health. This is the only way the BOD will know if you are required to take the mandatory opioid course. *The BOD automatically assumes you are registered with the DEA and must take the mandatory course if you do not indicate otherwise.*

For more information on HB 21 and its requirements, go to floridadental.org/opioidlaw.

REMINDER: Indicate Your Status with the U.S. DEA with the Florida Department of Health

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All Florida-licensed dentists must indicate whether you are registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prescribe controlled substances through the Florida Department of Health. This is the only way the Florida Board of Dentistry (BOD) will know if you are required to take the mandatory opioid course. The BOD automatically assumes you are registered with the U.S. DEA and must take the mandatory opioid course if you do not indicate otherwise. Click here for instructions on how to indicate if you are/are not registered with the U.S. DEA.

For more information on HB 21 and its requirements, go to floridadental.org/opioidlaw.

Are You Renewal Ready?

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By Brooke Martin, FDC Meeting Coordinator

As an FDA member, you have access to exclusive benefits to help you through the license renewal process for the upcoming 2014-2016 biennium. Membership has its perks, and we want to make your renewal process as seamless as possible! Below are some of the benefits the Florida Dental Association (FDA) offers to assist you in the renewal process.

CE Broker
The Florida Department of Health (DOH) now automatically reviews your continuing education (CE) records in the DOH’s electronic tracking system — powered by CE Broker — at the time of license renewal. It is mandatory for all Florida-licensed dentists to renew their license through CE Broker for the 2014-2016 biennium by midnight on Feb. 28, 2016. The FDA provides an exclusive members-only discount for CE Broker accounts.

  • Basic Account: FREE
  • Professional Account: $24 (non-members $29)
  • Concierge Account: $90 (non-members $99)

Click here to learn more about your account options. Contact Brooke Martin at bmartin@floridadental.org or 850.350.7103 for the discount code. Did you know you can update your CE credits on the go? Click here to download the FREE iPhone CE Broker app today.

Renewal by Mail
Your license should be renewed online through CE Broker. However, certain situations require you to renew by mail:

  • You need to change the status of your license.
  • You do NOT have a credit card or debit card to complete the transaction online and need to pay using a cashier’s check or money order.
  • Your license is in an Active Military status.
  • Your license is in a Volunteer status.
  • You need to request a name change.

To renew by mail, you must properly log into www.FLHealthsource.gov and print your renewal notice by selecting the Renew License link, then click on the Renew by Mail option.

Online CE
The FDA offers a variety of FREE 1-, 2- and 3-hour online CE courses to help you get the CE hours you need to renew your license. Course topics include: aesthetics, communication, treatment planning, sleep apnea, restorative dentistry, practice management and much more. Along with these courses, the FDA offers two legal CE guides and bimonthly “Diagnostic Discussion” articles in Today’s FDA.

Click here to learn more about the FREE FDA online CE courses.

FDA CE Courses
All CE-eligible courses taken at the 2014 or 2015 Florida Dental Conventions have been automatically reported to CE Broker on your behalf. FDA online CE credits are reported to CE broker the first Friday of each month. Courses taken by a national CE provider must be self-reported to CE Broker.

CE@RENEWAL
The Florida DOH is a great source for renewal information! Click here to access a helpful 30-minute webinar to learn more about how to report your CE credits through CE Broker as well as other useful information. Don’t have time to join the webinar? Click here to learn more about the renewal process, how to report CE credits, the benefits CE Broker has to offer and much more!

Questions?
For the FDA CE Broker discount code, information on the biennium, the renewal process, CE Broker or your FDA-earned CE credits, contact Brooke Martin at bmartin@floridadental.org or 850.350.7103.

Have You Registered to Use the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Database Yet?

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By Bob Macdonald, Florida PDMP Foundation Executive Director

As a licensed dentist, have you registered to use the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) database yet? Florida’s version of the nationwide program is called the Electronic-Florida Online Reporting of Controlled Substances Evaluation, better known as E-FORCSE. The database allows dentists to:

  • review complex prescribing for the elderly.
  • guarantee new prescriptions will not negatively interact with existing prescriptions from other prescribers.
  • confirm that patients do not need additional medicines or increased dosages to prevent unknown over-prescribing.
  • prevent unknown over-prescribing, which will reduce excess prescription drugs in medicine cabinets — the highest source of prescription drug diversion.
  • detect doctor-shopping, which may stop potential addiction and selling of drugs.

The state’s PDMP went into effect in 2009. Under the law establishing the program, all dispensers of Scheduled II-V drugs must enter prescription information in the database within seven days or it is a misdemeanor. The majority of dispensers under the law are pharmacists, although there are still some dispensing practitioners operating in Florida. Besides pharmacists, the law also allows for all licensed medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, dentists, podiatric physicians, ARNPs, physician assistants and optometrists to access the database for free to review patient information before prescribing any controlled substances for pain management. Law enforcement agencies also may access the database when investigating an active case of drug abuse or diversion.

Of a potential of 148,000 licensed Florida practitioners, about 30,000 have registered to use the database. Only about 700 dentists are signed up to access E-FORCSE, which is about 6 percent of all licensed dentists.

To date, the database has collected more than 130 million prescription records and is receiving about three million a month. E-FORCSE users have made more than 12 million queries for information. Of this total, dentists have made more than 12,000 contacts for records.

If you have a DEA license and regularly prescribe pain medication to patients, you should consider using the PDMP as part of your practice management office policy. To register to use the database, visit the program’s website under the Department of Health at www.e-forcse.com.