By Robert McDermott; President/CEO, iCoreConnectIn six weeks, the state mandate to use the Texas Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) when prescribing controlled substances goes into effect.
What does using the PMP accomplish?
In 2018, 10.3 million Americans as young as 12 years old misused opioids. 9.9 million misused prescription pain relievers; while 808,000 used heroin, an opioid created from morphine.
The PMP is designed to help identify patients with risky behavior and possible abuse of opioids.
Protects Providers
Adhering to the PMP allows you to track opioid prescribing and dispensing patterns in patients and protect your practice from people who may be “doctor shopping” to obtain multiple prescriptions for their drug(s) of choice.
Dental and medical practitioners are in a unique position to identify misuse of prescription drugs, according to drugabuse.gov1; and as mentioned in an earlier article, are being held accountable for overprescribing.
Reduces opioid abuse and related deaths
Total drug-overdose deaths in America declined by around 5 percent in 2019—the first drop since 1990. Many law enforcement and addiction experts credit PMPs and other precautionary actions taken by providers writing prescriptions.
How do you register for the Texas PMP?
You can register for the Texas PMP at https://www.pharmacy.texas.gov/PMP. There are also software tools that simplify the PMP process and integrate it into practice workflows.
iCoreRx + PMP is a cloud-based ePrescription tool that simplifies mandatory prescription checks. It provides real-time access to the latest state data in one step, and interfaces with practice management systems to avoid manual PMP data entry.
1 https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/misuse-prescription-drugs/how-can-prescription-drug-misuse-be-prevented