Benefits to Practices
PastRx provides benefits to practices by protecting your practice, your prescribers, and your patients with proactive tools that identify risks up front, not as part of the claims cycle.
Enterprise benefits to practices include:
- risk mitigation by identifying more risks earlier and providing a record of compliance
- cost reduction through the reduction in clerical work
- productivity improvement through better clinical decision support
- business insight by evaluating your patient population and prescribing history
- potential revenue gains through this analysis
Follow Prescription Advisory
In 2012, both New York and Tennessee required prescribers to check their state’s PDMP before prescribing painkillers.
The results one year later:
New York realized a 75% drop and Tennessee a 36% drop in patients who were seeing multiple prescribers to obtain the same drugs.
Thirteen multi-state PDMP projects were sponsored in 2012-13. While providers indicated that PDMPs gave them more confidence for prescribing pain medication, the study concluded that the easier the data is to obtain, the more they will be used, and the safer the practice can be.
The use of PDMPs…is helping to reduce misuse of prescription drugs.
Doctors (and other clinicians) need to know what prescriptions have been given to their patients by other practitioners. This information should be included in the patients’ electronic health care records accessible through a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) that provides immediate information.
Always check the medical record… and a prescription drug monitoring database.
What prescribers can do to safely and effectively use opioids for CNCP (includes the following)
- Screen for prior or current substance abuse/misuse
- Do not use concomitant sedative–hypnotics or benzodiazepines
- Track daily MED using an online dosing calculator
- Use the state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to monitor all sources of controlled substances
You’re not only reducing the supply [of pain medications] for those who use them inappropriately, but also for those in need.
PDMPs have many limitations in their current format, including complex access issues, timeliness, and whether the data are presented to the physician automatically or require physician effort to retrieve.
Recommendations for full use of PDMP include:
- PDMPs can be effective clinical tools in medication management involving controlled substances.
- PDMPs should be available for clinicians across state boundaries.
- Every prescribing clinician should be familiar with the process of accessing and utilizing information from PDMP’s so that they can incorporate this information in their practices.
Use of a state PDMP may help identify patients who are at high risk for diversion or doctor shopping… To quantify the effects of PDMPs, studies were conducted of ED providers who cared for adult patients with pain. Of the patients with complete data in one study, information from the state’s PDMP System altered prescribing practice in 41%.
The use of PDMPs…is helping to reduce misuse of prescription drugs.
Recommendations for full use of PDMP include:
- PDMPs can be effective clinical tools in medication management involving controlled substances.
- PDMPs should be available for clinicians across state boundaries.
- Every prescribing clinician should be familiar with the process of accessing and utilizing information from PDMP’s so that they can incorporate this information in their practices.
You’re not only reducing the supply [of pain medications] for those who use them inappropriately, but also for those in need.
Attention to patterns of prescription requests and the prescribing of opioids as part of an ongoing relationship between a patient and a healthcare provider can decrease the risk of diversion. Periodic review of state PDMP, where available, is also a useful tool to monitor compliance. Evaluation should initially include…a drug history… Documentation is essential.
What prescribers can do to safely and effectively use opioids for CNCP (includes the following)
- Screen for prior or current substance abuse/misuse
- Do not use concomitant sedative–hypnotics or benzodiazepines
- Track daily MED using an online dosing calculator
- Use the state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to monitor all sources of controlled substances
Thirteen multi-state PDMP projects were sponsored in 2012-13. While providers indicated that PDMPs gave them more confidence for prescribing pain medication, the study concluded that the easier the data is to obtain, the more they will be used, and the safer the practice can be.
Prescribing or dispensing to an abuser, diverter, misuser or ‘doctor shopper’ puts the provider, their practice and or institution, as well as the patients at high risk.
Although relieving pain and reducing suffering are primary emergency physician responsibilities, there is a concurrent duty to limit the personal and societal harm that can result from prescription drug misuse and abuse.
Whenever possible, orthopaedic surgeons should request and review old medical records and speak with the patient’s primary physician about past medication problems. Currently, states have Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs designed to assist law enforcement in the identification of doctor shoppers; these data are also accessible to physicians.
In 2012, both New York and Tennessee required prescribers to check their state’s PDMP before prescribing painkillers.
The results one year later:
New York realized a 75% drop and Tennessee a 36% drop in patients who were seeing multiple prescribers to obtain the same drugs.
Doctors (and other clinicians) need to know what prescriptions have been given to their patients by other practitioners. This information should be included in the patients’ electronic health care records accessible through a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) that provides immediate information.