moonlighting in Cali and DEA number requirements

[bulldog]

I've heard mixed things about moonlighting. I think you're able to moonlight once you get a california license and a dea number. To get dea number, you apparently have to pay dea a fee around $400. When you apply, u can apparently put down ur program director's contact info and this fee is waived. However, some say that that would only let u use ur dea number in the program u're training in. It wouldn't let u moonlight at other hospitals. U'd have to pay for the cost out of pocket in order to get a dea number that allows u to moonlight. someone care to clarify?

also, where do u print ur prescription pads? i found this place online:
http://www.prescriptionpaper.com/med-prescription.html

what address do u put? seems kinda freaky some stranger can look up ur home address by visiting the california medical board.

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[Winged Scapula]

You have to have an unrestricted medical license and your own PERSONAL DEA number to moonlight.

An institutional DEA number given to you for residency training purposes is not good anywhere but your home institution.

I've never heard of your DEA fee being waived. Do you have a link to that info?

You do not have to have your own prescription pads printed up. If your residency program does not supply them (we had nice ones with our name and license number printed on it; for security purposes we wrote in our DEA). All hospitals will have blank scripts you can use if you are moonlighting. I don't see any reason to print up your own until you are out in practice.

 

[bulldog]

You have to have an unrestricted medical license and your own PERSONAL DEA number to moonlight.

An institutional DEA number given to you for residency training purposes is not good anywhere but your home institution.

I've never heard of your DEA fee being waived. Do you have a link to that info?

You do not have to have your own prescription pads printed up. If your residency program does not supply them (we had nice ones with our name and license number printed on it; for security purposes we wrote in our DEA). All hospitals will have blank scripts you can use if you are moonlighting. I don't see any reason to print up your own until you are out in practice.

like i said, it's a rumor i've heard. at least in cali, i don't think any school has institutional dea/license. i went to out of state med school where all the resdients used institutional license/dea.

did a google search (i don't go to uscd):
http://meded.ucsd.edu/gme/housestaff/licensure_and_registration/

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Registration

"UCSD offers a fee exemption for your DEA registration. However, please note that a DEA registered with the UCSD fee exemption is only valid within the scope of your training. This applies to rotations at affiliate hospitals, but will not be valid while moonlighting.


Initial Registration

You may register with the DEA on-line at http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/ External Site / New Window. As a housestaff member of the UCSD Medical Center, you qualify for fee exemption. To receive this exemption, you must enter the following information:"

 

[HomerSD]

The DEA license fees are waived for those in-training at either a state or federal institution. When I applied online, I put down the director of GME who then certified my status as a fellow at a UC hospital.

I didn't know about the limitations of using a DEA license whose fees have been waived. I can tell you though that many fellows have moonlighted outside of the scope of their training appointment without any problems. I'm not sure outside hospitals or pharmacies have any easy way of telling if you are working in the scope of your training appointment or not.

Pre-printed prescriptions are a necessity here in California. All new Medi-Cal scripts and controlled substances must be written on pre-printed security prescriptions. One can pay for them, but my fellowship program paid for a stack of them for me.

 

[3dtp]

DEA is a registration, not a license. You must have an unrestricted state license to get your own DEA number. If your state requires a separate pharmacy dispensing license, you must also have that. Then you can apply to the DEA for registration for the dispensing of controlled substances.

Formerly many pharmacies demanded the DEA number for any prescription including non-CS. Now, you will need an NPI number which should serve the purpose of identifying you, but some pharmacies are still not with the program. You do not legally need a DEA number/registration for writing non-scheduled substances.

The DEA registration information can be found at the DEA website given above and has become increasingly costly over the past several years. If you are a resident at a training institution, you can use theirs only at that institution. The registration is address specific. If you want to work elsewhere you need to get your own. Be prepared to write a check. The DEA is not known for its benevolence. It takes about 2 weeks to get one.

The fees were around $400 up until a year ago, and since I just renewed mine, I know, are $510 for 3 years. Training institutions also pay a fee, but on an annual basis for each resident.

 

[elwademd]

bulldog, i assume you're beyond your internship, as in california, you cannot apply for your license until after your internship year.

unless you plan to only moonlight within your home institution, i would recommend just paying for the dea fee on your own, so as to not run into any confusion about whether or not you're allowed to use it elsewhere. in the overall scheme of things, the cost of getting a dea registration pales in comparison to what you can make moonlighting.

as homersd pointed out, medi-cal now requires pre-printed security prescriptions for patients (i believe this came about in march/april of this year). clearly, this can affect moonlighting opportunities as well.

DEA is a registration, not a license. You must have an unrestricted state license to get your own DEA number. If your state requires a separate pharmacy dispensing license, you must also have that. Then you can apply to the DEA for registration for the dispensing of controlled substances.

Formerly many pharmacies demanded the DEA number for any prescription including non-CS. Now, you will need an NPI number which should serve the purpose of identifying you, but some pharmacies are still not with the program. You do not legally need a DEA number/registration for writing non-scheduled substances.

The DEA registration information can be found at the DEA website given above and has become increasingly costly over the past several years. If you are a resident at a training institution, you can use theirs only at that institution. The registration is address specific. If you want to work elsewhere you need to get your own. Be prepared to write a check. The DEA is not known for its benevolence. It takes about 2 weeks to get one.

The fees were around $400 up until a year ago, and since I just renewed mine, I know, are $510 for 3 years. Training institutions also pay a fee, but on an annual basis for each resident.

california does not have a separate pharmacy dispensing license for physicians.

 

[Winged Scapula]

So what happens if you are out of your pre-printed scripts (ie, I sometimes stick them in my coat pocket and then don't have them when I am rounding)?

I've never had a problem, not having worked in a state where the pre printed ones were required. I just got blanks from the hospital and filled them in. So what do you do? Find a colleague to write the script?

 

[Blade28]

As stated above, paying the $400+ fee allows you to obtain your own personal DEA number - this is separate from your residency program's institutional number.

 

[Bobblehead]

DEA renewals are up to $551 now I believe. But at least you can put it on a credit card and get a bit of cash back.

 

[JayneCobb]

Link


read the FAQs from the DEA's on mouth. I highly doubt that this applies to a physician's personal number to allow for the writing of controlled substances.

 

[bulldog]

I spoke w/ a recruitement person from kaiser and they said that any R3's who moonlight need a personal DEA number that they paid for with $551. They can't use the DEA number that was waived through the institution where they did their training.

 

[CBMD]

I am a Navy physician who moonlighted in CA from 05-07, and that is a similar circumstance. We can get fee waived military dea's but they aren't technically legal except for treating military pts. Using your GME coordinator to get a fee waived institutional dea is the same deal. Although it will still work outside of the program, ethically it is wrong (not sure about legally, but it I know the board of medicine could discipline you and that would be BAD) I paid for my CA medical license and personal dea license after a day and a half, so I wouldn't risk it. As far as prescription pads go, most practices have a blank one, what I did was buy a stamper pen www.stamperpens.com with my name, ca license and dea number. then sing and stamp, very easy, very compact and works like a charm.