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Larissa Doucette
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Following discussion at the NABP Interactive Executive Officer Forum on October 2-3, 2018, several prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) sent joint letters to the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) requesting the agency waive special conditions attached to grant awards for state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs).
One letter, sent by state PMPs that were awarded the BJA grant funding, expresses the states’ concerns with the condition that to receive the grant funds, PMPs must “build new connections to a separate and untested PDMP hub.” The letter explains the negative impact of this condition, such as duplication and waste, the system not being in harmony with state laws, and the system not being integrated with any clinical workflow. The states also indicate that the condition will “prevent some states from using grant funding for the purposes sought in their approved application.”
A second letter, sent by several states that did not receive BJA grant funding for their PMPs, expresses the same concerns, and adds that “the grant specifications make it harder rather than easier for us to share PDMP data with grantee states and thus harm our ability to effectively protect public health and patient safety.” Both letters express the states’ desire to partner with BJA on this matter for the purpose of protecting public health and safety.
Both letters were sent by states with PMPs that are among the 48 that participate in NABP PMP InterConnect®. InterConnect was developed by the PMPs, in partnership with NABP, and has successfully created a national network of state PMPs, enabling secure state-to-state data sharing. InterConnect is customizable to ensure compliance with each state’s laws, rules, and regulations. Further, through a third-party vendor, health care systems and pharmacies have options for integrating access to PMP data into their clinical workflows; this product works in tandem with PMP InterConnect.