Over Forty States Are Now Members of PMP InterConnect

Alabama, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania have joined 38 other states by executing a memorandum of understanding with NABP to participate in NABP PMP InterConnect^®. These states/jurisdictions will be working toward a live connection with other states in the coming months.

“A key enhancement of the Massachusetts Prescription Awareness Tool (MassPAT) is the sharing of interstate prescription data with nearly every state in the country,” said Eric J. Sheehan, JD, Acting Bureau Director, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality. “Through its collaboration with NABP, the connection between MassPAT and NABP’s PMP InterConnect will result in a more comprehensive and thorough tool for Massachusetts prescribers and dispensers to use in identifying potential opioid abuse.”

In addition, the New York Prescription Monitoring Program Registry and Vermont Prescription Monitoring System joined 31 state prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) that have already implemented use of PMP InterConnect, giving authorized PMP users the ability to request and share program data across state lines: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

In an effort to combat prescription drug abuse and diversion with neighboring states, New York announced in a press release that the state began sharing PMP data with New Jersey on April 14, 2016. Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “Sharing controlled substance data with neighboring states allows us to more effectively combat prescription drug abuse and fraud . . . Prescription drug abuse impacts families nationwide, and I am proud of the crucial step we are taking to stem this epidemic.” According to the press release, New York plans to extend its PMP data sharing efforts to other PMP InterConnect participants.

NABP also continues to work with other states to facilitate their participation. Three more states are currently reviewing the memorandum of understanding. NABP staff highlighted the importance of state PMPs in the fight against prescription drug abuse in a recent interview with NPR.

PMP InterConnect is a highly secure communications exchange platform that facilitates the transmission of PMP data across state lines to authorized requestors, while ensuring that each state’s data-access rules are enforced. Additional information about PMP InterConnect, including a map of participants, is available in the Programs section of the NABP website.