Two pilot projects to test PDMPs

Healthcare providers and pharmacists will be able to identify and intervene in cases of potential prescription drug abuse through a new pilot program launched last week by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), according to an HHS statement.

The two pilot projects, which will take place in Indiana and Ohio, will use data from existing prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), improving real-time access to the information that is collected in these databases, according to Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

“Technology plays a critical role in our comprehensive efforts to address our nation’s drug abuse epidemic,” Kerlikowske said. “Together with education, proper disposal practices, and enforcement, improving existing prescription monitoring programs is a priority for this administration. We hope these innovative pilots will help usher in an era of ‘PDMPs 2.0’ across the nation to improve real-time data sharing, increase interoperability of data among states, and expand the number of people using these important tools.”

These PDMP pilot projects will allow hospital staff to identify a patient’s prescription history, including controlled substances, through a medical record system and help staff determine appropriate treatments and reduce the potential for an overdose that could be fatal, according to Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, national coordinator for health IT. “We are not creating new systems. We are adding value to those that exist,” he said in a statement.

The Indiana pilot project will demonstrate how emergency department staff can receive the patient’s prescription history directly through the Regenstrief Medical Record System, a care-management system used by Wishard Health Services, a community health system in Indianapolis, and other hospitals, according to the HHS release.

The Ohio pilot project will test the impact of a drug-risk indicator within the electronic health record and how that affects clinical decision-making. The Ohio project is a collaborative initiative involving the Springfield Center for Family Medicine, Eagle Software Corp.’s NaRxCHECK, the State of Ohio, and MITRE.

The pilot projects are funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and managed by ONC in collaboration with SAMHSA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the ONDCP.

For additional information about ONC or the PDMP project,

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