Effects of Mandatory Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) Use Laws on Prescriber Registration and Use and on Risky Prescribing

• NCJ Number: 253830
• Journal: Drug and Alcohol Dependence Volume: 199 Dated: June 2019 Pages: 1-9
• Author(s): Gail K. Strickler; Zun Zhang; John F. Halpin; Amy S. Bohnert; Grant T. Baldwin; Peter W. Kreiner
• Date Published: June 2019
• Length: 9 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2011-D6-BX-K052
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study used data from state-mandated prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) to examine the effect of these mandates on drug prescriber registration, use of the PDMP, and prescription-based measures of patient risk in three statesKentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia with PDMPs mandated between 2010 and 2015.

Abstract

Comprehensive mandatory use laws for prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have been implemented in several states to help address the opioid overdose epidemic. These laws may reduce opioid-related overdose deaths by increasing prescribers' use of PDMPs and reducing high-risk prescribing behaviors. We used state PDMP data to examine the effect of these mandates on prescriber registration, use of the PDMP, and on prescription-based measures of patient risk in three statesKentucky, Ohio, and West Virginiathat implemented mandates between 2010 and 2015. The current study conducted comparative interrupted time series analyses to examine changes in outcome measures after the implementation of mandates in the three studied states with mandated PDMPs compared to control states without PDMPs. The study found that mandatory-use laws increased prescriber registration and utilization of the PDMP in the mandate states compared to controls. The multiple provider episode rate, rate of opioid prescribing, rate of overlapping opioid prescriptions, and rate of overlapping opioid/benzodiazepine prescriptions decreased in Kentucky and Ohio. Nevertheless, the magnitude of changes in these measures varied among the three states with mandated PDMP participation by prescribers. The authors suggest that variation in the laws may explain why the effectiveness varied among the three states. (publisher abstract modified)