['Drug and Alcohol Testing - DOT']
['Medical review officer (MRO) - Motor Carrier']
06/24/2024
...
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.
READ MORESHOW LESS
['Drug and Alcohol Testing - DOT']
['Medical review officer (MRO) - Motor Carrier']
Load More
J. J. Keller is the trusted source for DOT / Transportation, OSHA / Workplace Safety, Human Resources, Construction Safety and Hazmat / Hazardous Materials regulation compliance products and services. J. J. Keller helps you increase safety awareness, reduce risk, follow best practices, improve safety training, and stay current with changing regulations.
Copyright 2024 J. J. Keller & Associate, Inc. For re-use options please contact copyright@jjkeller.com or call 800-558-5011.