Monday, Oct 19, 2015

The CURES enrollment deadline for providers has officially been pushed back from Jan. 1 to July 1 of 2016.

The change comes after the governor signed AB 679 (Allen). The bill was amended late in the legislative session due to concern that the most recent Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) update has fallen behind schedule. The CURES 2.0 was planned to be in use by July 1 of this year, yet the system is still not fully operational. The delay will give the Department of Justice (DOJ) time to finalize CURES 2.0 and for providers to enroll.

CDA supported AB 679 due to concern that the CURES 2.0 rollout was not meeting deadlines, and had the potential to create unnecessary confusion among dentists, exacerbating frustrations that many dentists have had with the system already.

Now, all dentists who are authorized to prescribe, order, administer, furnish or dispense controlled substances must register for CURES by July 1, 2016. Dispensed controlled substance prescriptions can be recorded in CURES, which allows prescribers to look up a patient's controlled substance current usage and past history.

The CURES requirement was established as part of a bill enacted in 2014 (SB 809 DeSaulneir). This legislation required the DOJ, in conjunction with the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) and licensing boards like the Dental Board of California, to develop a streamlined application and approval process to provide access to the CURES database, also known as the California Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), for licensed health care practitioners and pharmacists.

CDA will share information about CURES in the CDA Update and on cda.org as it becomes available. If dentists have any questions they can email cures@doj.ca.gov.