Implementation of a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program for Minnesota

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.

The Minnesota Board of Pharmacy will use its Prescription Drug Monitoring Program FY 2008 grant to implement and maintain a Controlled Substances Prescription Electronic Reporting System (CSPERS). CSPERS will use an electronic monitoring system to transmit data for Schedule II and III controlled substance prescriptions from dispensers to a central database maintained by the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy. CSPERS will help identify consumers involved in diversion much faster than the current system and will also eliminate the need by law enforcement officials to obtain information from multiple prescribers and pharmacies. Prescribers and dispensers will have direct, electronic access to the database. CSPERS will be accessible to healthcare professionals seeking to improve patient care, pharmacists monitoring the filling of prescriptions for controlled substances at multiple pharmacies, Minnesota Department of Human Services staff participating in a lock-in program for recipients exhibiting drug-seeking behavior, and law enforcement officials investigating the diversion of controlled substances. The Minnesota Board of Pharmacy has appointed twelve members to a Prescription Electronic Reporting Advisory Committee (PERAC) which will periodically meet to advise the board on the implementation and operation of the system and to review and evaluate the effectiveness of CSPERS. PERAC will also identify potential problems that might occur and potential system enhancements. The twelve members of PERAC consist of health-licensing boards that regulate prescribers, state departments of health and human services, professional associations representing medicine and pharmacy, and consumer advocacy groups.

CA/NCF