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Georgia Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Allows Dentists Access to Rx Data Rick Allen, Director Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency
On July 26, the switch was finally flipped to turn on access to allow dentists to register and have access to the Georgia Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). This means that all practitioners licensed by the Georgia Board of Dentistry who have authority to prescribe or order controlled substances can now track how patients use their prescriptions and discover, among other things, if patients are drug shopping. Georgia is one of the last states to implement such a program, and our program is based on the best features seen in other programs.
What Information You Can Access Georgia dentists can use the Georgia PDMP to determine where (in which pharmacies) their patients are having their controlled substance prescriptions filled. They can also determine if their patients have obtained similar controlled substances from other practitioners and where those prescriptions have been filled. The program will also allow a practitioner to see how many controlled substance prescriptions have been filled in the name of the practitioner. A similar function will
allow a practitioner to see how many controlled substance prescriptions have been filling using their DEA permit number.
Why Having Prescription Details Are Important Because pharmacists were able to register for the Georgia PDMP first, almost 1,000 have already registered and begun accessing the system. One pharmacist checked the database for several of his patients who he thought were only using his pharmacy to get their hydrocodone and alprazolam prescriptions filled. To his surprise, he found that ALL of the patients he checked had visited multiple physicians, had visited multiple other pharmacies, and were getting the same type of prescriptions filled over and over again. The pharmacist decided to stop filling prescriptions for these customers. Another pharmacist checked the database for patients she suspected were doctor-shopping. But to her relief, none of those patients were getting prescriptions filled at any other pharmacy than hers. One dentist who recently joined the system found that multiple prescriptions for controlled substances had been issued under his name without his knowledge. He subsequently discovered that a staff member had forged several prescriptions using his prescription authority. Accessing this system can provide peace of mind for dentists as well as pharmacists.
The System Has More Information Every Day Even though dentists have just gained access to the PDMP, community pharmacies have been reporting prescription data to the PDMP since mid-May 2013. The pharmacies were required to report their controlled substance prescription data starting with prescriptions filled on September 1, 2012. The reporting
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GDA ACTION SEPTEMBER 2013