Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2006, $400,000)
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.
Through the 2006 Prescription Drug Program, the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy will develop, implement, and operate an electronic system for the monitoring of controlled substances in Schedules II through V and other drugs of concern within the state of Louisiana. Grant funds will be used to engage the services of a Data Collection Specialist to electronically collect controlled substance prescription records from all dispensers, utilizing federal information technology standards and an Application Software Consultant who will furnish application software to aid in the evaluation and analysis of the prescription data by authorized users, through the utilization of a web-enabled portal. The proposed electronic prescription monitoring program, with appropriate confidentiality safeguards, could be used to reduce the time of the investigation phase for law enforcement and regulatory compliance agencies.
CA/NCF