Development of Vermont''s Prescription Monitoring System

Since the beginning of FY 2002, Congress has appropriated funding to the U.S. Department of Justice to support the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. Prescription drug monitoring programs enhance the capacity of regulatory and law enforcement agencies to collect and analyze controlled substance prescription data through 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 drug monitoring programs allows for the early detection of abuse trends and possible sources of diversion.

Vermont will construct a database of patient information that can be accessed through secure means over the internet. Through the Vermont Prescription Monitoring System (VPMS) database, individual prescription data will be available to physicians and pharmacists to verify the patient's history of controlled drug use, and guide medical decisions about which drugs should be prescribed.

Grant funds will be used to fund: a Program Director and a Data Coordinator; travel costs; the development of the core database and enhancements as needed; the production of an instructional film that introduces the database to pharmacists and providers; the development of a health information campaign for the public, providers and pharmacists; and, an external evaluator that will study the program performance.

CA/NCF