States require doctors to use prescription drug monitoring systems for patients

At least 39 states are now insisting that health professionals use their prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) to analyze each patient’s prescription drug use before writing another prescription for highly addictive drugs. In Missouri, the only state without a monitoring program, St. Louis County adopted a local system and made its use by physicians mandatory. "We saw a big nationwide push this year to make prescription drug monitoring programs mandatory, more comprehensive and effective, and easier to use," says Chad Zadrazil, a legislative attorney with the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, a federally funded organization based in Iowa. He notes some states also are expanding access to the databases to assist in public health initiatives. In the past, drug databases were used primarily by police to track down doctors who indiscriminately prescribe opioid medications for cash. Most pharmacists consulted the systems, but few doctors took the time to review the databases before prescribing highly addictive opioids. Until states began requiring physicians to use PDMPs, fewer than 35% of medical professionals used the tracking systems to identify patients who may be at risk for addiction and overdose, Zadrazil says. Now, in states that require doctors to consult ­PDMPs, he said, physician usage rates exceed 90%. Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and a handful of other states are revamping their programs to make them compatible with electronic health record software systems commonly used by physicians and pharmacists, Zadrazil says.