If you have been providing care to chronic pain patients for three continuous years (regardless of your specialty) and the majority of the patients in your practice are being treated for chronic pain utilizing controlled substances for more than 30 days; and
If you do NOT have:
the Ohio Osteopathic Association strongly advises you to apply to the Ohio Board of Pharmacy for a pain management clinic license by June 20, 2011.
A grandfather clause approved by the Ohio State Medical Board, June 9, will allow physicians to apply to the Ohio Board of Pharmacy for a pain management clinic license without meeting certification requirements outlined above. However, those who utilize the grandfather clause will have to submit to an on-site inspection by the Medical Board to ensure that the office is meeting minimal standards of care established in the HB 93 and emergency rules drafted to implement the law.
After June 20th, any physician who applies for a pain management clinic license will be required to have current subspecialty board certification in pain medicine or hospice and palliative care or board certification by the American Board of Pain Medicine or the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians. The American Osteopathic Association is working on a certificate of added qualification in Pain Medicine, but the approval date is uncertain.
Click here for a complete copy of the Medical Board’s Rule, Ohio Administrative Code 4731-29-01, Standards and Procedures for the Operation of a Pain Management Clinic. You should read the rule carefully to determine whether or not your practice qualifies as a pain management clinic. If you do qualify, download an Ohio Board of Pharmacy Pain Management Clinic - Application and Instructions and file it immediately to avoid severe criminal and civil penalties. (Note: the medical board rules attached to the form are an earlier edition of the current rules approved last week.)
Under HB 93 emergency rules, a "pain management clinic" is defined as a facility where (1) the primary component of the practice is treatment of pain or chronic pain; and (2) the majority of patients of the prescribers at the facility are treated for pain or chronic pain that includes the use of controlled substances, tramadol, carisoprodol, or other drugs.
The term “majority of patients” is based on the number of patients treated in a one-month time period. Patients receiving controlled substances, tramadol, carisoprodol or other drugs for treatment of an injury or illness that lasts thirty days or less are not considered in the calculation of the majority. Hospitals, hospice, ambulatory surgery centers, academic medical centers and medical schools are specifically exempted from the definition.
House Bill 93 also contains provisions requiring physicians to check the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS). If you are not currently registered for OARRS, you should also sign up to use the system. To establish an account with OARRS: