e-Prescribe on Headway (powered by DrFirst)

We’re partnering with DrFirst, a trusted leader in e-prescribing technology, to bring you secure and compliant electronic prescribing.
 

Data security and patient safety

DrFirst’s EPCS (Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances) certified platform, Rcopia, ensures your prescriptions are sent securely, meet DEA and state requirements, and check for potential interactions (e.g., drug-drug, drug-allergy) before sending.
 

Prerequisites to prescribe

You must have one of the following license types to prescribe:

• Psychiatrists (MD/DO): Full prescribing authority
• Nurse Practitioners (NP): Can prescribe, including controlled substances if licensed and registered with the DEA
   

Setting up e-Prescribe

Double check your professional details

When you sign up for e-Prescribe, we’ll show the professional details from your account. These details will be used to create your e-Prescribe account, so it’s important that they’re accurate.

If you notice any incorrect information, please contact us so we can help you update it.
 

Transferring pharmacy messages

You can only receive electronic pharmacy messages—like renewal and change requests—through one EHR or e-Prescribe tool at a time. If you’d like to start receiving these messages through Headway, we can help transfer them for you.

Once the transfer is complete, all pharmacy messages (such as refill requests) will be routed to Headway instead of your previous system. If you continue prescribing through another platform, you won’t receive those messages there until you switch back.

To complete the transfer, Surescripts (the network that manages communication between prescribers and pharmacies) will contact your practice directly to confirm the change. The process typically takes 2–3 weeks.

Please note that setting this up is not required to get started. If you’d like to try it out before committing to moving your messages over, you can always do that first. 
 

Fax notifications

In addition to electronic notifications, you can also opt into receiving fax notifications regarding pharmacy messages.

Finish setting up your account on DrFirst

After you’ve signed up for e-Prescribe and created your DrFirst account, you’ll receive an email from DrFirst to finish setting up your account before you can start prescribing.

Click Enroll now to start the process.

Step 1: Open the link on your computer

• Open the link on your computer and click Proceed in the I have an invite box.
  • If your invitation details do not automatically populate, you can copy paste them from the invite email.
• On the next screen, accept the Terms of Use.
• On the next screen, you will be asked to prepare some documents for identity verification.

Step 2: Identity proofing (evidence collection)

In this step, you’ll need to input your personal details to be verified by Experian.

• If you’ve completed identity proofing through DrFirst before, you will be able to skip this step.
• Your personal details must match the information on file with Experian. To confirm, you can request a free Experian credit report.
• If your credit card number could not be verified, you will be required to answer 3-4 questions regarding your financial history.

Step 3: Identity proofing (identity documents)

You’ll need this to complete this step: 

• Driver’s license, passport, or state ID
• Smartphone with camera to take a picture of your photo ID

To complete this step:

• Scan the QR code on the screen with your phone camera. This will redirect you to an Experian webpage titled “InfinID: ID verification”. 

• You will be asked to take a picture of your photo ID and to take a selfie. Make sure to give this website access to your camera.
• When you’ve finished all the steps on your phone, go back to your computer and select Check status to verify the ID scan was completed successfully.  
  • If you are just e-prescribing non-controlled substances, skip to Step 6. If you are e-prescribing controlled medications, continue on to Step 4.

Opt out of prescribing controlled substances

If you opt out of prescribing controlled substances, you won’t be asked to set up Two Factor Authentication or signature password, and you won’t need to meet with a Headway team member to verify your DEA number.

You’ll see this in your portal, and you’ll be ready to prescribe. 

Step 4: Token registration (controlled substances only)

If you are planning to prescribe controlled substances, in this step you will register Two-Factor Authentication tokens to prescribe controlled substances. 

• 
• Scan the QR code to install the iPrescribe Authenticator application to your phone. Please note that DEA requires you to install your authenticator app on a different device than the one you use to e-prescribe controlled substances.
  • This iPrescribe Authenticator app is not iPrescribe. It is an authenticator app used to prescribe controlled substances through Headway e-Prescribe.
• Once you have downloaded the application, scan the QR code again, using that device. Accept the push notifications and click Open Scanner.
• 

• Enter a nickname for your authenticator and click Bind Device. 
  • To avoid error messages, don’t use an underscore (“_”) in your nickname.
• Click Open Scanner on your token device and scan the next QR code through your iPrescribe Authenticator app’s camera scanner.
• 
• You’ll see a screen to create a password
• 
• If you selected Code Generator, complete the rest of the fields with the following listed information to be entered per token:
• Token Manufacturer: ONESPAN
• Token Issuer: DrFirst
• Token Type: OTP SOFT TOKEN
• Token Nickname: Nickname for the token to help identify it (Ex. “iPhone token”, “key fob”, etc.).
• Serial Number or Credential ID: 
  • Enter the Serial Number (S/N) on the back of the token without any spaces or dashes. For example, the serial number may read as “123-45-678” from the back of the token, but must be entered as “12345678”.
• One Time Passcode (OTP): The number generated on the token device, such as 123456.
• 
• Click Save after you’ve entered the token details.

Step 5: Passphrase collection (controlled substance only)

If you are planning to prescribe controlled substances, in this step you will create a passphrase to prescribe controlled substances. It will need to be entered whenever a controlled substance is prescribed:

• Create a passphrase. 
• Create a security question in case you need to recover your passphrase.

Step 6: Verification code

DrFirst requires one more form of verification to confirm your identity. 

• DrFirst will text you a verification code to the phone number you inputted in Step 2 with Experian.
• Input this pin when prompted
• If your phone number did not match Experian records or if you fail phone verification, DrFirst will instead send you a code via mail to the address you inputted in Step 2. It can take up to 14 days to receive this letter.

Once you’ve completed all these steps, you will be able to start prescribing non-controlled medications with Rcopia through Headway. 

DEA verification for controlled substances

In addition to the 2FA and passphrase you set up in the previous step, you will need to meet with a Headway team member who will verify your DEA number before you can start prescribing controlled substances.

Once you’ve finished setting up your account in the previous step, you will receive an email from Headway with a link to schedule a meeting.

This is what the email will look like:

Prescribing for the first time

Click here for a clickthrough version of the experience.

Patient identity verification

Before prescribing, patients must submit a photo of a government-issued ID and provide their phone number, date of birth, and sex. For more information on patient identity verification, see here.

Currently, prescribing via Headway e-Prescribe is only available to patients 18 years or older.

Build the patient record

In each client’s profile under the Medical tab, you can review key clinical details like allergies, diagnoses, vitals, and medications before sending a new prescription.This will keep your patient safe and trigger relevant interaction warnings when you prescribe new medications.

To support care coordination, you can also view your patient's care team and stay informed on their overall care. Any medical information you add will also be visible to your patient’s other providers on Headway.

Coming soon: medical details will automatically sync between each patient’s Medical tab and psychiatric intake/progress notes, so updates in either place will stay consistent across the patient's care.

Writing a prescription in DrFirst

Under Manage medications, select Open DrFirst to open DrFirst’s e-prescribing platform. 

Select your practice address

Before you start prescribing, make sure you select the appropriate practice address from the dropdown in the top right corner. Select the practice address that accurately reflects where you are at the time you are writing the prescription.

Add a pharmacy

Before you start prescribing, you can choose a default pharmacy for your patient. You can set one default pharmacy per patient. Simply set it as default by selecting it.

Favoriting a pharmacy adds pharmacies to your personal quick-access pharmacy list across all patients. 

Sending a prescription

• Search for a medication to prescribe
  
  • Tip: For medications you prescribe frequently, you can save them as favorites in DrFirst, so you can quickly re-select a medication and its instructions each time.
• Complete prescription details and patient instructions
  
  • Tip: If you prefer typing in the directions, you can free text type it into the Additional Directions To Patient field instead.
• Review and acknowledge potential drug interaction alerts. Check the patient’s PDMP records for controlled substances.
• Click Save Pending Rx
  
• Then scroll down to the following page and click Send to send the prescription. For non-controlled medications, you can directly send prescriptions.
• All prescriptions require your signature password; controlled prescriptions also require a soft token.
  

You can also Renew, Prescribe from a Medication, Stop, and Delete from the list of Active Medications.

 You’ll see prescriptions you have sent back automatically populate in the Client tab in Headway.

Managing pharmacy messages

You can view incoming pharmacy messages on the homepage of your provider portal, and you can respond to these messages from the Rcopia messages portal.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)