Physician & APRNs – Getting Started

The DOH Medical Cannabis Registry Program is a registration program.

  1. A physician/APRN must certify in writing that in the physician’s professional opinion the qualifying patient has a debilitating medical condition and the potential benefits of the medical use of cannabis would likely outweigh the health risks for the qualifying patient.
  2. Qualifying patients (and their primary caregivers if they have one) shall register with the Department of Health, and the Department of Health shall issue to the qualifying patient a registration certificate (the 329 Card).
  3. The Department of Health must provide access to registry information to law enforcement for official law enforcement purposes.

 

DOH recommends that all potentially qualifying patients begin the discussion of whether or not medical cannabis is the right treatment option for their condition with the physician/APRN that is currently treating them for that condition.

  • All certifying physicians must have a valid Hawaii Medical License number and a valid Hawaii Controlled Substance License number.
  • All certifying APRNs must have a valid RN license number and a valid Hawaii Controlled Substance License number.

Physicians and APRNs are not required to register with DOH in order to certify qualifying patients for the Medical Cannabis Registry program.  However, before certifying physicians/APRNs can submit an electronic application, they:

  1. MUST complete the Electronic Signature Agreement form before using the new electronic system in order for DOH to accept their electronic signature.
    • Please download the form, complete it on a computer (or type), print it out, sign it, date it, and return it to DOH.  Electronic signatures on this form are NOT ACCEPTABLE.  Mail completed form to:  4348 Waialae Avenue, #648, Honolulu, Hawaii  96816.
    • View video for an overview of how to Physician/APRN: Create a MEDMJ account.  Note: Although training documents may say “physician”, please be advised that the process is the SAME for both certifying physicians and certifying APRNs.
  2. MUST “link” their MyPVL license before creating their first online application.  Physician/APRN MyPVL Instructions (PDF)  – view before attempting to submit an electronic application then go to MyPVL to link your account.
  3. Should be sure to use their Hawaii Medical License Number (without the “MD” or “DOS”)  or Hawaii Registered Nurse License Number, as applicable, and they must use their Hawaii Controlled Substance Registration Number (usually starts with E).
  4. MUST click the “Doctor’s First Time Log In” the first time they go to medmj.hawaii.gov and enter ALL of their information.  To change any information entered, physicians/APRNs may do so in a subsequent patient’s record.  For example, you entered the wrong email address for the office and you want to change it.  In the NEXT record that you enter, you can make the change on the physician’s certification page.

 

The Patient Registration Process allows the physician/APRN to:

(See Patient Initiated Applications for detailed instructions or you can view a brief Video OVERVIEW)

  1. review patient applications (that is, the information that a patient includes in the application such as their name, address, caregiver, grow site, etc.)  – RECOMMENDED
  2. return a patient’s application to a patient if there is a need for corrections (i.e. patient decides to add a caregiver before or wants to change the grow site address) – OPTIONAL
  3. certify their patient’s condition – REQUIRED
  4. upload documents on behalf of a patient – OPTIONAL (application can not be submitted to DOH without the required documents uploaded; patient has the ability to upload their own documents)
  5. create a patient record for patients that are unable to enter their own data, at physician’s discretion, and submit to DOH (similar to the initial interim system but no hard copies are mailed; only soft copies uploaded to electronic application; must have original hand written signatures of patient and caregiver; money orders are NOT accepted).  See detailed instructions for Physician/APRN Initiated Applications or you can view a brief Video OVERVIEW.
  6. submit the electronic application to DOH – REQUIRED

Please be advised that the entity (HIC) that manages the web hosted Medical Cannabis Registry application system is a VENDOR and that communication with HIC does not constitute communication with the Department of Health. The supportive services that HIC provides are technical in nature ONLY (you forgot your password or username and are unable to login to your account at https://medmj.ehawaii.gov, browser compatibility, the system won’t allow you to make payment or to “submit” the application, etc.).