A program to stem the misuse of controlled substances and improve patient care is now up and running.
The Delaware Prescription Monitoring Program is the result of 2010 legislation that allowed the Delaware Department of State to collect controlled substance prescription data from pharmacies every twenty-four hours.
The PMP primarily functions as a database that practitioners and pharmacies can reference when writing prescriptions for a patient. The practitioner or pharmacy can see a patient’s history of controlled substance prescriptions to make an informed decision on whether or not to prescribe a controlled substance.
Delaware Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock explained that the PMP will continue to grow to better meet the needs of the practitioners, pharmacies, and state.
“We will be integrating our own PMP system with those of other states and with our own Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) to make it a comprehensive tool,” said Bullock.
Governor Markell said launch of the PMP couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the country,” said Markell, citing that drug overdose deaths nationally have increased five fold between 1990 and 2007. Governor Markell also noted that the illegal use of prescription drugs have surpassed the use of marijuana and heroin in Delaware. “The numbers are staggering,” Markell added.
PMP data will also be available to regulators and law enforcement agencies when investigating related cases in order to improve current legislation.