DHS Reports Low Use of Prescription Monitoring Program Despite Mandate

Tuesday, May 14, 2019 | 0

Only about 38% of doctors who write prescriptions for controlled substances in Arizona had used the state’s Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program to look up a patient’s prescription history during December, according to the state Department of Health Services.

The figure was up slightly from the 34% of doctors who had checked the CSPMP before prescribing a controlled substance to a patient in January 2018, according to a DHS report. In July 2017, about 24% of doctors prescribing controlled substances checked the CSPMP.

Arizona launched the CSPMP in 2009, but doctors weren’t initially required to look at a patient’s prescription history before prescribing drugs, Cronkite News reported. 

That changed in April 2018, when a state law took effect requiring medical providers to check a patient’s prescription history for the past year before prescribing an opioid or other controlled substance.

Sheila Sjolander, an assistant director at the Arizona DHS, told Cronkite News that the department was working to address the low use of the CSPMP. A stakeholder meeting was reportedly held last month to discuss potential strategies.

Prescription drug monitoring programs, such as Arizona’s CSPMP, have been viewed as a key tool in battling the opioid epidemic. The databases allow a prescriber to see if the patient has been “doctor shopping” to obtain multiple opioid prescriptions.