PHP213 - Trends in the Texas Prescription Drug Monitoring Program: Registration and Utilization Among Physicians and Pharmacists

Abstract

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have been purported to be an effective tool in mitigating misuse and diversion. The Texas PDMP launched in August 2012 under law enforcement administration. Approximately 24 states have instituted a mandate for providers to register and/or use their state PDMP. Therefore, the study objective was to examine trends in registration and use of the Texas PDMP by physicians and pharmacists after PDMP administration was transferred to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy (TSBP) on September 1, 2016. PDMP registration and utilization data by profession type (e.g., pharmacists) were obtained from the TSBP. Descriptive statistics were used to delineate monthly trends by profession and the totals one year before and year after the TSBP became the PDMP administrator. PDMP registrations by user role were analyzed from September 2016 to August 2017. The number of physicians and pharmacists that were registered during the first month of the TSBP administering the PDMP (September 2016) was 2,012 and 2,097. From October 2016 to August 2017, the number of registrants remained fairly consistent by physicians and pharmacists with 551 and 365 average registrations per month. Between September 2016 and August 2017, PDMP utilization (i.e., searching patient data) was 1,786,416 queries by 8,077 physicians and 1,089,015 queries by 6,114 pharmacists. Overall, the number of patient history queries increased over the period from September 2016 to August 2017 for both physicians and pharmacists. Physician and pharmacist delegates for PDMP access showed percentage increases of 2911.1% and 7933.3%, respectively during the first month under the TSBP. The use of the PDMP among registrants (physicians and pharmacists) has improved since the TSBP became the administering agency. New initiatives, such as incorporating the PDMP into electronic health records data and pharmacy software may be effective toward increasing PDMP utilization.