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

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, physician assistant,

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, formulate and prescribe ...

, optometrist,

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, or

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, 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, vet ...

) by the United States

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

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 A National Provider Identifier (NPI) is a unique 10-digit identification number issued to health care providers in the United States by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The NPI has replaced the Unique Physician Identification ...

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 data ...

" that is calculated similarly to the

Luhn algorithm The Luhn algorithm or Luhn formula, also known as the " modulus 10" or "mod 10" algorithm, named after its creator, IBM scientist Hans Peter Luhn, is a simple checksum formula used to validate a variety of identification numbers, such as credit ...

, 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/B/F/G – Hospital/Clinic/Practitioner/Teaching Institution/Pharmacy * M – Advanced Practice Prrovider (NP/PA/OD/ET, etc.) * P/R – Manufacturer/Distributor/Researcher/Analytical Lab/Importer/Exporter/Reverse Distributor/Narcotic Treatment Program * X – Waivered Buprenorphine Prescriber 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 original 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 c ...

Identifiers