Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics

Vol. 2 No. 1                                                                                           January 2025

PMP Newsletter

PMP Information Updates, InterConnect, Delegates, and More

Message from the Editor:

Hello all. In this edition, we are going over multiple different topics including updating PMP information, InterConnect queries, delegate accounts and audits, and details about our PMP vender Bamboo Health.

Updating Information
We would like to remind you that Registration and PMP are separate units at OBN and that the programs utilize different venders; therefore, they require direct notification of information changes. If any of your information changes on your OBN Registration account or on your PMP account, it will not automatically update your information on the other account. If you need to change your information (name, DEA number, address, etc) and are in doubt, so you email for assistance, go ahead and add pmpadmin@obn.ok.gov and obnddregistration@obn.ok.gov as the recipients for the email to ensure that both accounts have updated information. Each unit can provide applicable instruction or disregard the email if it is not applicable. 

Updating a DEA Number on a PMP Account
Some PMP account types allow users to update their DEA number through their My Profile tab. If you need to update your DEA number, you can check under your profile information tab to see if you can change it from your own account. Click here to see a video demonstrating how to change your account profile information. 

If your account type does not allow you to change your DEA number within your account, please either email pmpadmin@obn.ok.gov or call our front desk at 800-522-8031 and ask to speak to our PMP unit for assistance. We're happy to assist with changing account information, and in the long-term, maintaining your current account is best for you, our unit, and the PMP data. 

If a medical professional does not know how to update their DEA number for their PMP account, oftentimes their inclination is to create a new PMP account. This is what we seek to avoid. Some experience difficulty creating a new account, because some part of the information they seek to create the account with has already been utilized to create their first account, and it results in a subsequent email or phone call assistance request. Other times, new accounts are processed, and they disrupt PMP data and complicate future assistance requests should the PMP user need assistance from OBN. 

Once your DEA number is updated on your PMP account, make sure to update it on your OBN Registration account, too. All OBN Registration account holders can update their DEA number through their account. Please click here to view a demonstration of how to change a DEA number in an OBN Registration account. If you are in doubt, please email obnddregistration@obn.ok.gov or call our front desk at 800-522-8031 and ask to speak to our Registration unit. 

There is no requirement for which account, PMP or OBN Registration, needs to be updated first with the new DEA number, but they both need to be updated. 

Bamboo Health
Our PMP vender, Bamboo Health (formally APRISS), provides the PMP service. While most emails that you receive related to the PMP come from OBN, there are times when Bamboo Health may email you through the email connected to your PMP account. These emails will be sent from Bamboo Health from a no-reply email such as
no-reply@oklahoma.PMPAWARE.net. These are legitimate emails, so please be sure to read them as they may contain necessary information.

Depending on the domain of the email you utilized to create your PMP account, particularly if you utilized a work email, there is also a possibility that your organization's firewall prevents your email from receiving these no-reply emails. If you do not receive these emails from Bamboo Health, you can contact the IT services at your organization to see if they can allow the sender.

PMPi InterConnect
PMPi InterConnect allows states to share PMP data so patient reports can be searched in additional states' databases.

This function allows for medical providers to set default states (states whose databases are always searched each time the provider runs a patient report) and it allows for a one-time search in additional databases.

Setting defaults can be particularly useful for prescribers whose clinics may reside close to the border of another state or who contract often with the military. Click here to view a video demonstration of how to set your PMP account default to always check additional databases. 

Individual patient reports that utilize the PMPi InterConnect service can also be useful for certain situations that might not warrant a default setting.

For example, a patient may have an extended vacation in another state, and you may need to run their report in that state's database after their return, but you don't want to check it for all patients for every query. In this case, select the database for the individual query under the PMP InterConnect Search header when running a patient history request. Click here for a demonstration.

It's important to remember that the more databases that are searched for a patient's prescription history request, the more likely you are to receive false positive results. For some patients, there may be no reason to suspect that they would have any necessary prescription information in other states, and using the InterConnect system in any capacity would be unnecessary. In this case, making sure that you do not have additional databases selected as defaults or on your individual queries will help prevent false positives, and save you time since it will reduce the number of reports that you must sift through. Please keep this in mind when you choose the best option for you and your patient. 

Delegate Accounts and Audits
When a delegate first creates their account, it is important that when they are prompted to include their supervisor's email, that they include the email that the supervisor used to create the supervising account. OBN PMP accounts do not have requirements for which email, personal or work, to utilize for the system - this is up to the discretion of the PMP user and sometimes their workplace. So, when a delegate applies for their account, they need to verify their supervisor's email to ensure that their delegate account is approved and is correctly linked to their supervisor's account.

Delegates are also audited every six months. This process makes sure that those who have access to the PMP are supposed to have access to the PMP. If a delegate should change their place of employment or leave their profession altogether, they should no longer have access. Audits keep this information current.

Delegate audits occur every year by January 1st and by June 30th. The audit window is open for 45 days prior to these deadlines. Supervisors receive multiple email reminders about the process, and delegates are also reminded to ask their supervisor for reapproval via email. If you are a delegate and are unable to run patient queries, or if you are a supervisor of a delegate who is currently unable to, the delegate account likely needs to be reapproved for PMP access. Click here to view a video demonstration for where to locate delegate verification.

Future Newsletters
Do you have a question or topic that you'd like to see addressed in a future newsletter? Email us at pmpadmin@obn.ok.gov. Include "PMP newsletter" in the email's subject field. 

InterConnect State Data Sharing
If you attempt to select an additional state database to run for a patient query and that state is not available, it is not due to a PMP error. Not all states in the nation currently have a data sharing agreement with Oklahoma. The states and military databases listed in your PMP account are the ones you can search. Due to different state laws, there are also some medical roles that may not have PMP access in other states and therefore cannot search that additional state database for a patient query. 

When it comes to PMP checks, prescribers (or designated delegates) are legally required to check the Oklahoma PMP and to perform their due diligence when checking patient reports. You must document that you have checked the Oklahoma PMP in the patient chart, and if you are unable to run reports in an additional applicable state, after sufficient effort, you can choose to document that effort as well.  

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