Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are state-run electronic databases that collect information on controlled substances dispensed to patients. They are intended to help health care providers safely prescribe and monitor the use of certain drugs, including opioid pain relievers. Specifically, they seek to reduce “multiple provider episodes” (when patients visit numerous health care providers to obtain the same or similar drugs), inappropriate prescribing, prescription opioid misuse, and overdose deaths.
Experts identify prescriber enrollment and frequency of use as two key metrics to consider when evaluating PDMP utilization. Pew surveyed administrators of all operational PDMPs to obtain total enrollment of in-state prescribers to the PDMP as of December 2014, and total queries to the PDMP by prescribers and prescriber delegates for the full year. Rates of enrollment and utilization were then calculated using December 2014 data from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Registrant Population by State and Business Activity database. This research presents a snapshot of prescriber enrollment and use across states’ PDMPs.
This analysis was updated Sept. 6, 2016, to explain how enrollment and utilization rates were calculated.