A DEA number (DEA Registration Number) is an identifier assigned to a health care provider (such as a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

physician assistant A physician assistant or physician associate (PA) is a type of non-physician practitioner. While these job titles are used internationally, there is significant variation in training and scope of practice from country to country, and sometimes be ...

nurse practitioner A nurse practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse and a type of mid-level practitioner. NPs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease, prescribe medications an ...

optometrist Optometry is the healthcare practice concerned with examining the eyes for visual defects, prescribing corrective lenses, and detecting eye abnormalities. In the United States and Canada, optometrists are those that hold a post-baccalaureate f ...

podiatrist A podiatrist ( ) is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for ...

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

, or

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

) by the United States

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

allowing them to write prescriptions for

controlled substances A controlled substance is generally a drug or chemical whose manufacture, possession and use is regulated by a government, such as illicitly used drugs or prescription medications that are designated by law. Some treaties, notably the Single ...

. Though there is no legal basis for preventing its use as a general prescriber identification number, for security reasons the DEA prefers that DEA registration numbers only be used for authenticating and tracking prescriptions for controlled substances. The agency prefers that the National Provider Identifier be used for general identification purposes.

Current format

A valid DEA number consists of: * 2 letters, 6 numbers, and 1 check digit * The first letter is a code identifying the type of registrant (see below) * The second letter is the first letter of the registrant's last name, or "9" for registrants using a business address instead of name. * Of the seven digits that follow, the seventh digit is a "

checksum A checksum is a small-sized block of data derived from another block of digital data for the purpose of detecting errors that may have been introduced during its transmission or storage. By themselves, checksums are often used to verify dat ...

" that is calculated similarly to the

Luhn algorithm The Luhn algorithm or Luhn formula (creator: IBM scientist Hans Peter Luhn), also known as the " modulus 10" or "mod 10" algorithm, is a simple check digit formula used to validate a variety of identification numbers. The algorithm is in the pub ...

, with the following steps: ** Add together the first, third and fifth digits call this ''CALC_1,3,5'' ** Add together the second, fourth and sixth digits and multiply the sum by 2, call this ''CALC_2,4,6'' ** Add ''CALC_1,3,5'' + ''CALC_2,4,6'' call this ''CHECK'' ** The rightmost digit of ''CHECK'' (the digit in the ones place) is used as the check digit in the DEA number Registrant type (first letter of DEA Number): * A – Deprecated (used by some older entities) * B – Hospital/Clinic * C – Practitioner * D – Teaching Institution * E – Manufacturer * F – Distributor * G – Researcher * H – Analytical Lab * J – Importer * K – Exporter * L – Reverse Distributor * M – Mid Level Practitioner * P – Narcotic Treatment Program * R – Narcotic Treatment Program * S – Narcotic Treatment Program * T – Narcotic Treatment Program * U – Narcotic Treatment Program * X – Suboxone/Subutex Prescribing Program For example, for a registrant using a business address instead of a name, the DEA number might look like "F91234563". In some cases, multiple people (possibly including interns or nurses) are prescribing under the supervision of a more senior prescriber. In this case, the supervised individual may be identified by affixing an ID string to the end of the supervisor's DEA number, after a dash, e.g. "F91234563-001AB".

Older format

Prior to October 1, 1985, DEA registration numbers for physicians, dentists, veterinarians, and other practitioners started with the letter A. New registration numbers issued to practitioners after that date begin with the letter B, F, or G. http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugreg/reg_apps/new_reg_number110906.html "Due to the large Type A (Practitioner) registrant population, the initial alpha letter "B" has been exhausted. DEA will begin using the new alpha letter "F" as the initial character for all new registration for Type A (Practitioner) registrations." The rest of the format was the same as the new style.

References

External links

DEA Scheduled Drugs Reference Site

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517014951/http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/manuals/pharm2/pharm_content.htm#p10b , date=2008-05-17
"Updated DEA Registrant Codes"

Number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

Identifiers