Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System
(OARRS) Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System
The Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS) is Ohio’s state Prescription Monitoring Program and is controlled by the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy. It was put into place on March 18, 2005. The law is available to read in the Drug Laws of Ohio pages C-50 through C-54. The Ohio State Board of Pharmacy (The Board) is responsible for collecting and verifying data for prescriptions that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies Schedule II-V as well as carisoprodol and tramadol prescriptions.
Registration
In Ohio, registration for the OARRS program is limited to health care professionals and law enforcement. There are five different account types to choose from when registering.
Prescriber Master: an individual who is authorized to write prescriptions without the presence and/or authorization of another prescriber. Prescriber Master accounts can request OARRS reports as well as review ones requested by his/her delegates. Nurse Practitioners are eligible for a Master Prescriber account. Residents and Interns who do not have a permanent medical license must register as a delegate.
Prescriber Delegate: In order to qualify for a Prescriber Delegate account, a user must be a licensed health care professional. This includes, but is not limited to, physicians, nurses and pharmacists. All Prescriber Delegate accounts must be linked with a Prescriber Master account.
Data Submission
The format in which data is submitted to The Board is highly regulated as well. All data submitted to the OARRS system must be submitted according to the 2005 American Society for Automation in Pharmacy standards (ASAP).
Required Data
The following information is required for all record submissions to the Board:
- Patient's name, address, date of birth, telephone number and gender
- Prescription number
- National Drug Code (NDC) of dispensed medication
- Quantity of drug
- Days' supply
- Date of dispensing
- Date prescription was written or authorized
- Number of refills
- Refill number
- Prescriber's DEA number and DEA suffix if applicable
- Pharmacy's DEA number
- Pharmacy's name and telephone number
- Method of payment
The following information shows the accepted mediums that the State Board of Pharmacy accepts for data submission as well as the requirements for each medium.
SFTP
Secure File Transfer Protocol is the preferred method for data submission. The file format must be the pharmacy’s DEA number, the file creation time in HHMMSS, and formatted with .TXT (ex. AB1234567.123441.TXT).
HTTPS
Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the method used to enter data on the OARRS website.
CD
Compact Discs can be submitted to the State Board as long as the files are in the ASCII format. When submitting a CD, the pharmacy must:
- include the file name on the disc which must be the pharmacy’s DEA number followed by .TXT
- label the front of the disc with the Pharmacy and/or Submitter’s name, DEA number, and number of prescriptions on the disc
- include a Transmittal Form
Diskette
Diskettes are still accepted by the State Board but are not recommended as they can become corrupted during transit. Occasionally the State Board may request the data be resent in another format. If submitting a diskette, the pharmacy must:
- use a 3.5” floppy disk in ASAP 2005 format as ASCII files
- create a file name with the pharmacy’s DEA number followed by .TXT
- label the front of the disc with the Pharmacy’s name, DEA number, and number of prescriptions on the disc
- include a Transmittal Form
Paper
OARRS will accept written reports only if the State Board has granted a waiver in writing to the pharmacy. OARRS has to provide the pharmacy with a form to complete for written submissions. Again, all non-electronic submissions must be accompanied with a Transmittal Form.
Data Reception
After a data submission is received and updated, a confirmation e-mail will be sent to the pharmacy contact which will confirm the date processed, the number of records received, the number of records with errors and the name of the submitted file. If there were errors in the data submission, a Microsoft Excel document will be attached to the e-mail and will not contain any Protected Health Information (PHI).
Receipt of paper forms will be provided via fax.
Data Rejection
Data may be rejected if it does not meet the requirements laid out by the ASAP 2005 standards. The entity submitting the data will be notified via e-mail. Only the records containing errors will be rejected, not the entire file. For example, if Johnson’s Pharmacy submits a CD with 75 records on it and 12 do not follow the ASAP 2005 standards, OARRS will reject those 12 records, not all 75 on the CD.
Exceptions
If a pharmacy never dispenses any controlled substances, carisoprodol or tramadol prescriptions, that pharmacy can notify the State Board via a signed letter. The State Board will then remove that pharmacy from a list of pharmacies that are expected to report to the OARRS system.
If no controlled substances, carisoprodol or tramadol are dispensed within a 7 day period, a pharmacy must submit a “Zero Report”