Switching ADHD psychiatrists in New Jersey without a gap

People change ADHD prescribers for ordinary reasons: a move, a new insurance plan, a clinician who retires, or a relationship that is not working. New Jersey law does not stand in the way. What causes trouble is timing. A stimulant prescription cannot be refilled or passed from one clinician to another, so the new prescriber has to evaluate you and write a new prescription before your current supply runs out. Work backward from the day your bottle will be empty and most gaps disappear.

The rules that set the timetable

More detail on these limits is in New Jersey's ADHD medication rules.

A sequence that avoids a gap

1. Keep your current prescriber until the new one has seen you. Do not cancel appointments or announce you are leaving until the new first visit is booked.
2. Count your supply. Note the date of your last fill, any dated prescriptions still waiting, and the day you will run out. Aim for a first visit with the new practice at least a week before that day.
3. Ask the new practice what it needs. Records, a medication list, your pharmacy, and whether it prescribes a controlled substance at a first visit. Some practices do not.
4. Request your records now. The law gives the old practice up to 30 days.
5. If the dates do not line up, ask your current prescriber for one more month. Say you are transferring and give the date of the new appointment. Many clinicians will bridge a transferring patient, but it is their clinical decision.
6. Bring your medicine bottle, records and a list of every ADHD medicine you have tried to the new first visit.
7. Once the new prescriber writes a prescription, tell the old office. From then on, one prescriber only.

Never hold stimulant prescriptions from two prescribers at once. Each prescriber starting a controlled substance must check the state Prescription Monitoring Program, so overlapping prescriptions will be visible.

Getting your records under New Jersey rules

For physicians and other licensees of the Board of Medical Examiners, N.J.A.C. 13:35-6.5 sets the rules. The Division of Consumer Affairs summarizes the same points in its consumer brief on the Board.

• Deadline: a copy of your treatment record, billing record or both no later than 30 days after the practice receives your request. The practice may require the request in writing.
• Fees: no more than $1 per page or $100 for the entire record, whichever is less. If the record is under 10 pages, the practice may charge up to $10 to cover postage and retrieval. The consumer brief adds that a separate "service fee" may not be charged on top of the copying fee.
• A summary instead: the practice may provide a summary that adequately reflects your history and treatment, for no more than the copy fee.
• Unpaid bills: a practice may not refuse to provide records because you owe a balance if another health care professional needs them to treat you.
• No charge at all when the practice ended the relationship with you, or when your clinician leaves a group practice and you ask to keep seeing that clinician.
• Sending records to the new clinician: the practice needs a current written authorization signed by you that names who should receive them.
• How long records exist: treatment records must be kept for seven years from the most recent entry.

Federal HIPAA rules give you a separate right of access, generally with 30 days for the provider to act on a request. For telehealth care, New Jersey's telehealth statute also says the clinician must forward your medical information to other providers you name, if you ask.

What to ask for

• The initial evaluation or diagnostic report.
• Rating scales or test results.
• A medication history: each medicine tried, dates, and why it was changed.
• The last two or three visit notes, including blood pressure and pulse readings.

A request you can adapt

"I am a patient of Dr. [name], date of birth [date]. Under N.J.A.C. 13:35-6.5, I request a copy of my treatment records from [date] to the present, including the initial evaluation, medication history and recent progress notes. Please send them to [new clinician's name and address or secure fax], and a copy to me at [address]. I authorize this release. [Signature, date, phone.]"

Keep a dated copy of the request. Thirty days later, follow up in writing if nothing has arrived.

If your prescriber is the one ending care

A New Jersey physician cannot simply stop seeing a current patient. Under N.J.A.C. 13:35-6.22, to end the relationship the physician must:

• Notify you in writing, at least 30 days before care ends, by certified mail or another method with proof of delivery.
• Provide all necessary emergency care, including necessary prescriptions, until that date.
• Follow the records rules above, which means no copy fee in this situation.

When you ask, the physician must make reasonable efforts to help you find another qualified clinician, which may include referrals. A physician may not end care for a discriminatory purpose, or when the physician knows no other licensee can currently provide the care. The notice rule does not apply when the patient has clearly ended the relationship.

If a practice closes, or a physician will be out of practice for more than three months, the rule requires a procedure for patients to get copies or transfers of records, with no copy fee when the records are for continuing care, plus a newspaper notice and reasonable efforts to notify patients seen in the prior six months.

Practical points for New Jersey

• Check the new clinician first. A license look-up takes a few minutes; see how to verify a doctor's license in New Jersey.
• Check the network. If you are switching because of insurance, confirm the new clinician participates in your exact plan. Out-of-network professionals must tell you before scheduling non-emergency care; see out-of-network reimbursement in New Jersey.
• Moving into the state? The cross-state issues are in moving to New Jersey on ADHD medication.
• Federal timing. Federal telemedicine flexibilities for controlled substances run through December 31, 2026. No final rule for 2027 had been published as of October 19, 2026, so a switch late in the year is a good moment to ask a new practice about its plans.

If a gap happens anyway

• Call both offices the same day. Your current prescriber can still prescribe while you remain a patient.
• A pharmacist cannot refill a Schedule II prescription.
• Do not take anyone else's medication. See sharing ADHD medication and New Jersey law.
• Tell the new clinician how many days you went without medication.
• If you are in crisis, call or text 988.

A complaint about records or about how care was ended can go to the State Board of Medical Examiners, which accepts complaint forms online or by mail. To transfer care to Dr. Shershow, start with the new patients page or call the office.