Enhancing Ohio's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

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 (PDMP). Prescription drug monitoring programs enhance the capacity of regulatory and law enforcement agencies and public health officials 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.

The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program assists states as they plan, implement, or enhance a PDMP. PDMPs: build a state-level data collection and analysis system to enhance the capacity of regulatory and law enforcement agencies and public health officials for future prevention efforts; enhance existing programs' abilities to analyze and use collected data to identify drug abuse trends and increase the number of users of the PDMP; facilitate national evaluation efforts to ensure continued support; encourage the exchange of information among states to prevent cross-border diversion; assess the efficiency and effectiveness of programs to ensure continued state-level support; and, enhance collaborations with law enforcement, prosecutors, treatment professionals, the medical community, and pharmacies to establish a comprehensive PDMP strategy.

The Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, an enhancement grantee, proposes to implement the following enhancements to its prescription drug monitoring program: (1) administer a multi-state hub for the exchange of PDMP data among states; (2) increase the efficiency of the PDMP by decreasing the number of reports that require manual intervention; and (3) expand prescriber delegate accounts to allow unlicensed employees of a prescriber to access the PDMP. The preliminary work on a prototype hub is near completion, and the PDMP will work with technology vendors to further develop the hub from a prototype to an operational vehicle for data exchange among state PDMPs. Three neighboring states have already expressed interest in joining with Ohio to share prescription data. The Board plans to modify existing software to increase efficiency and provide improved service to law enforcement officers, prescribers, and pharmacists. This improvement is expected to enhance the detection of doctor shoppers and patients who are abusing or misusing their prescription drugs. The PDMP currently limits registration to health care professionals that are licensed to prescribe drugs to patients and to other professionals delegated by the registrant. Many prescribers have requested expanding their ability to delegate access to PDMP to other individuals, including medical assistants and office managers. This expansion will dramatically increase the number of reports processed each day.

CA/NCF