Provider Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Utilization and Self-Auditing—A Pilot Study

BackgroundAlabama has the highest prescription rate in the country. The national incidence of overdose deaths from prescription opioids exceeds the combined death rates from heroin and cocaine overdose. Monitoring prescription access should be an essential activity among providers and can be used to protect patient health and well-being. Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are tools that assist in diminishing opioid therapy risks such as diversion, abuse, overdose, and death.ObjectiveThe purpose of the study was to examine the effects of an educational intervention on opioid prescriptive rates, frequency of self-auditing and days of opioid supply among healthcare providers. The anticipated goal of the project was that rates and days of supply for opioid prescriptions would decrease.MethodA pretest–posttest design was used to assess a sample of 21 DEA licensed providers who attended a PDMP presentation and conducted a self-audit using the PDMP.ResultsAnalysis showed that 81% of the participants had never conducted a self-audit prior to the intervention. Self-report data indicated that 85.7% of the providers planned to increase their self-auditing use postintervention and 14.3% planned to make no changes to their current use of the PDMP. Among those who prescribed opioids, the range of monthly prescriptions written was 3–142 preintervention (M = 32.28, SD = 41.04) and 3–149 postintervention (M = 32.26, SD = 43.32). Analysis also found the days of opioid supply prescribed were also high. In both cases, these numbers were correlated to patient census.Implications for NursingThe PDMP is an effective surveillance tool that provides aggregate data to state public health officials. For a PDMP to be effective, it must be used by prescribing providers. While the anticipated goal for this study was not achieved, the PDMP is an effective surveillance tool for monitoring the controlled substance prescription histories of patients. Using the PDMP before prescribing can aid providers in distinguishing those who legitimately have a need from those who may be seeking to misuse the medications. Additionally, use of a PDMP can provide aggregate data to state public health officials so that education programs, for practitioners and patients, can be developed.