Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2006, $399,900)
In Fiscal Year 2006, Congress appropriated $7,500,000 to the U.S. Department of Justice to support the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. Prescription monitoring programs are systems where controlled substance dispensing data is submitted to a centralized database administered by an authorized state agency. These programs are designed to help prevent and detect the diversion and abuse of pharmaceutical controlled substances, particularly at the retail level where no other automated information collection system exists.
States that have implemented prescription drug monitoring programs have the capability of collecting and analyzing prescription data much more efficiently than states without such programs, where the collection of prescription information requires the manual review of pharmacy files which is a very time consuming and invasive process. The increased efficiency of prescription monitoring programs allows for the early detection of abuse trends and possible sources of diversion. The analysis of collected data also allows for the identification of outmoded prescribing practices, such as the undertreatment of pain, which may result in the development of educational programs for medical professionals.
The North Carolina's Health and Human Services Department will use $399,900 in funding to establish and staff a Controlled Substance Prescription Reporting System (CSRS). This system will be used to reduce the misuse and abuse of licit substances. Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will enlist the support of some of the following agencies: the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, Office of the Attorney General, Division of Public Health, State Bureau of Investigation, North Carolina Behavioral Health Association, North Carolina Retail merchants Association, North Carolina Medical Board, and the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy.
CA/NCF