Ohio Job and Family Services (ODJFS) issues reminder regarding usage of tamper resistant prescription pads 

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), has officially posted information regarding the April 1st implementation date for the usage of tamper-resistant prescription pads. Physician offices please note: effective April 1, 2008, the federal government (CMS) will require that all prescriptions provided on behalf of Medicaid patients covered by traditional Medicaid be written on tamper-resistant prescription pads. The prescriptions are required to have, at a minimum, a single tamper-resistant feature. This requirement will not currently apply to Medicaid recipients covered by any Medicaid managed care plan.

Overview of tamper resistant prescription pad law 

In order for Medicaid outpatient drugs to be reimbursable by the federal government, all written, non-electronic prescriptions must be executed on tamper-resistant pads. To be considered tamper resistant a prescription pad must contain at least one of the following:

• one or more industry-recognized features designed to prevent unauthorized copying of a completed or blank prescription form;
• one or more industry-recognized features designed to prevent the erasure or modification of information written on the prescription by the prescriber; or
• one or more industry-recognized features designed to present the use of counterfeit prescription forms. 

Beginning April 1, 2008, a prescription pad/paper must contain at least one feature in each of the three categories listed above. In addition, beginning April 1, computer-generated prescriptions must be printed on paper that meets the above requirements. In addition, at a point one year after the implementation date, in order for prescriptions pads to be considered tamper resistant, a prescription pad must contain all three of the foregoing characteristics.