Monitoring of Controlled Drugs (Schedule II-IV) for People Over the Age of Sixteen in Broward and Palm Beach Counties

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 Florida Department of Children and Families will use grant funds to facilitate the formation and subsequent work of a 25-member task force, the Florida Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Task Force (Task Force), to research the details of a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) and create a state plan for establishing the PDMP.

The Task Force will meet quarterly to research details of a PDMP and create a state plan to establish the PDMP. To support this effort, baseline data has been initiated to document the extent of the problem. The goals and objectives of the Task Force include outlining the creation of PDMP software and working with information technology experts to develop a system that will work for Florida; conducting extensive search to understand the details of a system that touches over 50,000 physicians and potentially over 10 million patients, and researching a possible statewide public awareness campaign to highlight issues related to prescription drug diversion, abuse, and addiction.

Two Task Force representatives will conduct up to two site visits to states that have an existing PDMP. The representatives will research the hosting agency's software, funding, lessons learned, and data capturing techniques to support data collection. A review of state regulations and statutes to determine the best approach for establishing Florida's Statewide Prescription Drug Monitoring Program will be conducted.
Further, the Task Force will host a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Summit, highlighting the serious and growing problem of the illegal diversion and abuse of prescription drugs in Florida. The summit will educate participants on the Task Forces' plan for establishing the database, the status of public and legislative support for Florida's PDMP and the pursuit of funding to support software and diversion training.

CA/NCF