Utilization of the Arkansas Prescription Monitoring Program to combat prescription drug abuse

• We surveyed prescribers/dispensers regarding a prescription drug monitoring program.
• Respondents reported program impact on their health care practices.
• MDs, APNs, and PharmDs reported most frequent use of the database.
• Controlled substance involvement and mandated use policies increase utilization.
• Increased database use positively impacts prescribing/dispensing practices.

ObjectiveThe Arkansas Prescription Monitoring Program (AR PMP) was implemented in 2013 to combat prescription drug abuse. All enrollees were invited to participate in a user survey available in February 2014, to identify makeup of users, utilization of the program, and changes made to health care practices after implementation of the program.MethodsOf the 3694 individual enrollees invited to participate, 1541 (41.7%) completed the survey. Data collected were analyzed to identify changes in health care practices by program frequency of use and user profession.ResultsMedical doctors, advanced practice nurses, and pharmacists are the professions who use the program most frequently. Daily AR PMP users are considerably more likely than infrequent users to be prompted to access the program by the involvement of a controlled substance (CS) prescription or by office/facility policy requirements. Increased frequency of use of the AR PMP results in positive impacts on CS prescribing and dispensing practices.ConclusionCompelling more users of the AR PMP to be prompted to access the program by the involvement of a CS prescription or by requirements per office/facility policy may increase frequency of use of the program and thereby changes in health care practices to combat prescription drug abuse.