Error Messages and Troubleshooting

This section includes general information regarding signing outpatient controlled substance orders for the Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substance features (ePCS), errors the user might see, and some possible causes.

Possible hardware problems:

 

What does a user need to be able to digitally sign outpatient controlled substances prescriptions?

Providers must have the following to be able to prescribe outpatient controlled substance medication orders:

 

Is the user prescribing from a remote location?

The ActivClient software must be installed on the remote workstation or ePCS will not work.

 

What do the error messages that the user might see during the signing process mean?

 

Error Message

Cause

1.

Order for controlled substance could not be completed. Provider does not have a current, valid DEA# on record and is ineligible to sign the order.

There is no DEA Number in file 200 for this provider, or this provider does not have a VA#, or this provider’s VA# could not be used because either the facility DEA number is expired, or the provider is not a VA provider (only VA providers may use VA numbers).  Contact your CAC or support person who can check on this for you.

Note: With patch OR*3*499, a provider must have a DEA number in the NEW DEA#’s multiple field to order controlled substances. DEA numbers in the obsolete DEA NUMBER field are ignored.

2.

Order for controlled substance could not be completed.

Provider is not authorized to prescribe medications in Federal Schedule X [X is one of 2, 2N, 3, 3N, 4, or 5].

In the provider’s ePCS set up, they have not been assigned permission to write for the specified schedule. Your CAC should know who is responsible for assigning the schedules.

If a provider is using their individual DEA number, the schedules associated with the DEA number in the DEA NUMBERS file (#8991.9) are used to determine privileges. If using VA# or an institutional DEA number to order controlled substances, the provider’s personal schedules in file 200 are used to determine permissions.

Note: With patch OR*3*499, if a provider has more than one DEA number, the error message specifically applies to the DEA number flagged ‘Use for Inpatient Orders’ in the DEA NUMBERS file (#8991.9).

3.

Order for controlled substance could not be completed.

Provider’s DEA# expired on DATE [ex:JAN 01, 2012] and no VA# is assigned. Provider is ineligible to sign the order.

The text is clear. The provider’s DEA number has expired and the provider does not have a VA number. Contact your ADPAC or CAC to find out who enters credentialing information through the Data Entry for ePrescribing Controlled Substances application to get this corrected. 

Note: With patch OR*3*499, if a provider

has more than one DEA number, the error

message specifically applies to the DEA

number flagged ‘Use for Inpatient Orders’

in the DEA NUMBERS file (#8991.9).

4.

Digital Signing of Controlled Substances is currently disabled for your site. 

The prescriber tries to sign and the ePCS switch (OR EPCS SITE PARAMETER) is disabled for the site.

5.

You are not currently permitted to digitally sign Controlled Substances.

The prescriber tries to sign and the ePCS switch (OR EPCS SITE PARAMTER) is disabled for the site.

6.

Problem getting PIN. Cannot Digitally Sign.  

There are issues reading the PIV or smart card/retrieving the PIN. Contact your CAC or ADPAC for assistance.

7.

Card has been locked. Cannot Digitally Sign.

The card is locked in CPRS after 3 failed attempts at PIV PIN entry. This error occurs

when the user attempts to sign while the card

is locked. It will be automatically unlocked after 15 minutes.

Warning: Be careful! 5 consecutive incorrect

PIN entry attempts will lock the card and you

will have to go to your PIV office station to

reinstate or create a new card!

8.

Digital Signing has been cancelled.

The digital signature process has been

cancelled by CPRS. This error usually shows

after another problem has occurred.

9.

Could not digitally sign. An error has occurred: Hash generation failed.

The system has issues creating the hash. The

hash is created using the data from the order and a specific value. This process is repeated in

Pharmacy during finishing and the hash values

are compared to see if anything has been

changed.

10.

Please verify that you are logged on to the

CPRS system and that your PIV card is

inserted. There is a possible mismatch

between your VistA last name and the last

name of the certificate on your card. If it

matches and you are still experiencing issues, please contact your card issuer for assistance.

When a user tries to link his/her PIV card to

another VistA user logged into CPRS, a series

of error messages will appear after PIN entry 

Contact your CAC or ADPAC for assistance.

11.

CPRS was not able to link your VistA

account to a PIV card.

When a user tries to link his/her PIV card to

another VistA user logged into CPRS, a series

of error messages will appear after 

PIN entry.

12.

89802006^Smart Card Reader not found

As stated, the card reader was not found.

Contact your local IRM shop. 

13.

Problems with verifying certificate chain of

authority

Network problems connecting to the verifying

servers Tumbleweed may not be installed on

the PKI Verify Server machine or the

workstation or is not installed correctly.

Contact your CAC or ADPAC for assistance.

14.

Valid Certificate not found

No valid certificate to use was found on the

card. Contact your CAC or ADPAC for

assistance.

15.

Returned from CertSignData with failure

Obtained a valid certificate, but failed to sign

data correctly. Contact your CAC or ADPAC

for assistance. 

16.

Certificate not valid: 

89802019^Before Cert effective date.

The current date when the user tries to sign is

before the certificate’s effective date. Contact

your CAC or ADPAC for assistance. 

17.

Certificate not valid: 

89802020^Certificate expired.

The certificate on the card has expired. 

The PIV card needs to be renewed. 

Contact your PIV office.

18.

Could not acquire context Last Error value

was “specific message for the error”

Often means that the ActivClient on that

machine needs to be reinstalled.  First, the

user should try to digitally sign from another

workstation, and if that works, then it is

probably ActivClient or the card reader

hardware.

19.

Invalid PIN entry - You only have ##

attempts left before it is locked.

This error message displays when the user

enters an incorrect PIN one or two times. The

message tells the user how many times another incorrect PIN can be entered before CPRS locks ordering for the card. The order will be left unsigned. 

Warning! If a user incorrectly enters the PIN 5

consecutive times, the card will be completely

locked and will require the full PIV station to

reinstate or create a new card! 

20.

That was three (3) unsuccessful tries, the

Card Reader is Locked 

The user entered an incorrect PIN three

consecutive times. CPRS locks access to the

card. The order will be left unsigned. 

Warning! If a user incorrectly enters the PIN 5

consecutive times, the card will be completely

locked and will require the full PIV station to

reinstate or create a new card!

21.

PIN Entry was cancelled

The user cancelled PIN entry and stopped the

digital signature process. The order will be left

unsigned.

22.

Unable to read the information from your

card. Possible mismatch between your VistA last name and the last name of the certificate on your card.

No matching certificate found when trying to

get the SAN from the PIV card to link. Contact your CAC or ADPAC for assistance. 

23.

Revocation failed - error: “specific text for

the error”

The revocation server that checks to see if a

certificate has been revoked or expired couldn’t be reached over the network. Contact your CAC or ADPAC for assistance.

24.

Could not open the Cert Store

This appears to be a problem with ActivClient.

Please check ActivClient and reinstall if necessary. 

Contact your CAC or ADPAC for assistance. 

25.

Did not find a Cert

This error comes from other programs outside

of CPRS. The cause may not be as easily

determined as other errors. 

Contact your CAC or ADPAC for assistance.

26.

89802010^Signature Error – “specific text

for the error”

This error comes from other programs outside

of CPRS. The cause may not be as easily

determined as other errors.

27.

89802009^Signature Check failed

This error comes from other programs outside

of CPRS. The cause may not be as easily

determined as other errors. 

28.

Digital signature verification failed: 

“specific text for the error”

This error comes from other programs outside

of CPRS. The cause may not be as easily

determined as other errors. 

Contact your CAC or ADPAC for assistance. 

31.

Keyset error

This error appears to relate a bad SAN being stored for the user. 

Contact your CAC or ADPAC for assistance.