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For Immediate Release
Contact: Alicia
Bork
Fight
Against Prescription Drugs Takes Another Step Forward April 1
Requirement
going into effect for healthcare professionals who prescribe and dispense controlled
substances
Madison, WI –
Beginning Saturday, April 1, all practitioners who prescribe controlled
substances will be required to use the Wisconsin enhanced Prescription Drug
Monitoring Program (WI ePDMP). This
latest requirement comes from 2015 Act 266, which is a piece of the Heroin, Opioid,
Prevention and Education (HOPE) Agenda.
“This new requirement is
imperative in ensuring that we continue to prevent opioid abuse,” said Governor
Walker. “We have made great strides thus far, and the implementation of this
legislation will continue to help us fight the misuse, abuse, and diversion of
controlled prescription drugs.”
While some practitioners have
voluntarily been using the system since its inception in 2013, law did not
require them to do so. This new requirement will require a practitioner to
review a patient’s PDMP records before prescribing a controlled substance
prescription unless any of the exceptions apply:
- A patient is receiving hospice care
- The prescription is intended to last the patient three days or
less, and is not subject to refill
- The drugs are administered directly to a patient
- An emergency situation prevents the practitioner from reviewing
ePDMP records
- There is a technological failure
“The biggest misconceptions
about the ePDMP are that it is only for opioid prescribers and dispensers and that
it sets a limit on the amount of medication a patient can receive,” said Department
of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) Secretary Laura Gutiérrez. “In
reality, the system tracks prescriptions for all schedule II-V controlled
substances. That includes opioids, but also includes benzodiazepines,
stimulants and other controlled substances. The amount of medication prescribed
or dispensed continues to be up to the healthcare professional’s discretion.”
Also beginning April 1, a change
in requirements goes into effect for pharmacies and other dispensers. Since the
PDMP’s inception in 2013, dispensers have been required by law to submit
dispensing data to the system within seven days. Beginning April 1, pharmacies and
dispensing practitioners must submit a monitored prescription drug record to
the ePDMP no later than 11:59 p.m. of the next business day after dispensing, providing
prescribers better real-time data about their patients.
“The WI ePDMP is a tool to
help healthcare professionals make more informed prescribing and dispensing
decisions,” said Gutiérrez. “It has already proven to be effective, with nearly
21 million fewer opioid doses being dispensed in the second half of 2016 as
compared to the same period in 2015.”
The original Wisconsin PDMP
was deployed in June 2013; however DSPS launched an enhanced version, the
ePDMP, in January 2017. The WI ePDMP allows for value-added healthcare workflow
integration, improved data quality capabilities, and maximized public health
and safety use. It also contains analytics and visualizations to draw attention
to the most relevant and potentially concerning data in each report, such as a
patient’s high levels of opioid consumption or dangerous combination of drugs.
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Click here for a PDF of the release.
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