Jun. 01, 2016
Program aimed at saving lives, reducing crime through prescription drug monitoring
HARRISBURG – According to the state Department of Health, the Commonwealth’s newly improved prescription drug monitoring program is set to launch this summer, giving doctors, pharmacists and law enforcement more information to tackle Pennsylvania’s growing prescription drug abuse epidemic, announced Rep. Matt Baker (R-Tioga/Bradford/Potter), House Health Committee chairman.
The program, called the Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions Program (ABC-MAP) Act, is an electronic database listing all controlled substances that are prescribed and dispensed in Pennsylvania. The database will help improve patient care and prescribing practices, uncover drug diversion and identify “doctor shopping.”
“I am proud to have supported key language in the legislation creating this program,” said Baker. “As a longtime advocate of using technology to improve health care, this program seems like the perfect tool to identify patients in need of treatment and pinpoint any possible fraud or abuse taking place by those professionals prescribing and filling prescriptions. Although the state had a previous drug monitoring program, it was not being used to its fullest potential.”
Until now, neither physicians nor dispensers had access to information that would help them address the growing negative effects of non-monitored scheduled drugs on the health and safety of Pennsylvanians. ABC-MAP will rectify this and give health care professionals the ability to address potentially fatal drug abuse and provide improved and streamlined care to their patients.
Baker explained that this confidential database will supply the information they need to, in essence, “red flag” any instances of unusual or unacceptable practices in the prescribing, disbursement or procurement of a controlled substance. For example, if someone receives prescriptions from two different doctors for a narcotic and goes to two different pharmacies to get the prescriptions filled, that information will show up on the database.
“According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, prescription drugs are the second-most abused category of drugs in the United States, following marijuana,” said Baker. “In fact, drug overdoses now surpass the number of deaths each year from automobile accidents in Pennsylvania. We need to be more proactive in helping those who have been caught in the web of drug addiction, and stop those who are overprescribing these addictive narcotics.”
With virtually every state having in place some type of prescription drug monitoring system there will eventually be the opportunity to share information across state borders, which will enhance tracking of those who live along the borders and may use doctors and pharmacies in two states to feed their prescription drug habit.
Signed into law in 2014, the database has undergone extensive improvements and will be launched this summer. It will be maintained by the state Department of Health.
Representative Matthew Baker
68th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tricia Lehman
717.772.9840
tlehman@pahousegop.com
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