Practice Better's ePrescribe integration allows healthcare practitioners in the United States to electronically prescribe medications directly through the platform, including controlled substances (EPCS).
This guide will walk you through the setup process. To preview the feature, check out the video below or our interactive demo here.
In this article:
- Pricing and Setup
- Purchase and Activation
- Identity Verification
- Using ePrescribe
- Removing the DrFirst ePrescribe Integration
Pricing and Setup
Practice Better's integration with DrFirst is available on all paid plans (not available on Sprout or Free Trials).
To set up the DrFirst ePrescribe integration in Practice Better, you will need to set up an account directly through the Practice Better integration. Existing accounts that were set up directly with DrFirst are not compatible with our integration.
Practice Better's ePrescribe integration with DrFirst pricing breakdown:
- DrFirst ePrescribe (EPCS optional): $49/month per practitioner
- One-time Onboarding fee: $99 per practitioner (non-refundable)
- DrFirst ePrescribe (EPCS required) + PDMP:
- PDMP Add-on: +$5/month per practitioner
- PDMP one-time Onboarding fee: $399 per practice, per state (non-refundable)
Purchase and Activation
- Go to Settings > 3rd Party Integration.
- Team account owners, use the Team Member Switcher in the bottom left to select another team member to set up the integration for them.
- Team account owners, use the Team Member Switcher in the bottom left to select another team member to set up the integration for them.
- Click Get started beside the DrFirst ePrescribe integration.
- Select the integration plan you want:
- DrFirst ePrescribe
- DrFirst ePrescribe with PDMP
(Prescription Drug Monitoring Program: a tool practitioners can use to see what controlled substances have been prescribed to a specific patient.)
- Enter the Practice information and complete all the required fields. If you don’t have a fax number, enter your phone number again.
- Enter the information for the provider for whom the integration is being set up.
Providers must be added one at a time; additional team members can be added with the team member switcher (See Step 1 above).
- At this stage you can elect to enroll in EPCS (Electronic prescribing of controlled substances).
- Finalize your choices on the confirmation step.
- Our support team will reach out to you for the next steps.
To update your ePrescribe plan, click the More Options Menu (3 dots) on the DrFirst ePrescribe integration and select Change Plan.
Identity Verification
You'll receive an email from DrFirst to complete your identity verification through ID.me. The sender will be: infinIDAdmin@drfirst.com.
The process differs slightly depending on whether you've enrolled in EPCS. Full step-by-step instructions are covered in the dedicated article below.
Review the article here for complete instructions: Completing Identity Proofing for DrFirst ePrescribe →
📍 Note: Once started, you must complete identity proofing. If you cannot complete it, you'll need to start over.
Using ePrescribe
You can access your DrFirst portal in a few places in Practice Better.
Learn more about Creating Prescriptions through Practice Better's ePrescribe Integration →
- Go to a Client Record > Medical History.
- To open your DrFirst portal, click one of the "Manage" buttons above the Medication History, Drug Allergies, or Prescriptions sections.
- Or, open a Client Hub and use the Manage Prescriptions button to launch your DrFirst portal.
- The DrFrist portal will open as a pop-up within your Practice Better portal so that you can manage your prescriptions all from Practice Better.
- Once you close the DrFirst pop-up, any new client data will be synced back to Practice Better, as indicated by the notification at the top right of your window.
- Practitioners can monitor DrFirst notifications, like messages from pharmacies, by adding the DrFirst Notifications widget to the Practice Better Dashboard.
Prescribing Controlled Substances (EPCS)
Practitioners require the following credentials each time they prescribe controlled substances:
- Provider login credentials (and any applicable 2FA methods)
- Passphrase (used to send prescriptions with controlled substances)
- Signature password (provided to you by Practice Better support during the setup process)
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP)
If you select PDMP as part of your integration, this process can vary depending on your State. There is a non-refundable, one-time setup fee of $399 USD per practice.
⚠️ Providers are required to set up EPCS to use PDMP through Practice Better's integration with DrFirst.
Review your State requirements here:
Practice Better's support team will communicate specific instructions to you through email.
This process generally takes 6-8 weeks, and we cannot guarantee your State will approve your application.
While you wait for the PDMP tool to be activated in your account, you can still use the ePrescribe integration.
To learn more about PDMP, review the blog below from DrFirst:
For steps to use the PDMP tool in iPrescribe, see the help page from DrFirst linked below:
Here's a more succinct version framed for practitioners:
PDMP Integration Limitation for Telehealth-Only Practices
If you operate a telehealth-only business without a physical location in your state, you may be denied PDMP integration through DrFirst. State regulations require providers to maintain a physical address within the state to qualify for integrated PDMP access—current rules have not yet adapted to accommodate telehealth models.
💡 Workaround: You can still access patient PDMP information by logging directly into your state's PDMP website rather than accessing it through Practice Better's integration.
Removing the DrFirst ePrescribe Integration
Removing or unlinking the integration stops client data from syncing with DrFirst immediately. Any medication or prescription data already synced to a client's Medication Tracker stays in place.
Whether you'll need to pay the onboarding fee again depends on how far along setup was when you removed the integration. If your DrFirst account was never fully created by our support team, you'll pay the onboarding fee again if you set it up later. If your DrFirst account was already created by our support team, removing the integration keeps that account in place, and re-enabling it restores your existing account with no new onboarding fee.
Removing the Integration for Your Whole Practice
This disconnects DrFirst ePrescribe for every practitioner on your account and stops billing for the full integration.
- Go to Settings > My Subscription > Add-ons.
- Click the More Options menu (3 dots) beside the DrFirst ePrescribe integration and select Remove.
- Click Remove account in the pop-up to confirm your choice.
Removing the Integration for a Team Member
Each practitioner has their own DrFirst connection, so you can remove one team member's access without affecting anyone else's. Unlinking a single team member stops billing for that provider's seat only.
We recommend the team owner complete this step on behalf of team members, using the Team Member Switcher.
- Go to Settings > 3rd Party Integrations.
- Use the Team Member Switcher in the bottom left to select the team member whose integration you want to remove.
- Click Unlink beside the DrFirst ePrescribe integration.
- Click Unlink in the pop-up to confirm your choice.
This stops billing for that provider's seat and stops their data from syncing with DrFirst, without affecting the integration for the rest of the practice.