Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs

Description of Strategy

A prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) is an electronic database that monitors, collects, and analyzes prescriptions for controlled substances within a state. Through prescribing and dispensing data submitted by pharmacies and practitioners, PDMPs can provide physicians and pharmacists within the community critical information about patient behavior that may contribute to prescription drug addiction. Ultimately, this will improve patient safety. The objective of such programs is to reduce access and availability of prescription drugs to those who would misuse them.

In Wyoming

Wyoming’s PDMP, WORX, was initially established in 2004 through the Wyoming Controlled Substance Act, (W.S. 35-7-1060).  It collects Schedule II – V controlled substance prescription information from all non-resident and resident pharmacies that dispense to residents of Wyoming. Prescribers are required to check the PDMP before prescribing controlled substances, but dispensers are not required to check the PDMP before dispensing these substances.

Discussion of Effectiveness

There is conflicting evidence that PDMPs are effective in reducing either opioid misuse or abnormal practices by providers. Fink et al. (2018) find that evidence of PDMPs either increasing or decreasing prescription opioid overdoses is inconclusive. Furthermore, they find unintended consequences of PDMP implementation, specifically, an increase in heroin overdoses. Likewise, Rhodes et al. (2019, p. 9) find limited “evidence to strongly support the overall effectiveness of PDMPs in reducing opioid-related consequences…” Even still, there is some evidence that PDMPs reduce the number of prescriptions written for opioids (Martello et al., 2018). Likewise, (Pardo, 2017) find that from 1999 to 2014 states with effective PDMPs saw a substantial decline in opioid overdose-related fatalities. Moreover, pharmacists look at PDMPs as an effective resource for addressing patient safety (Johnson et al., 2018).