Did You Know: Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP)

At IWP, we are part of a 49-state prescription drug monitoring program, or PDMP. The PDMP is a tool used by states to watch for prescription drug abuse, addiction and diversion.

The benefits of a PDMP system are:

• Supports access to controlled substances for legitimate medical use
• Identifies and defers or prevents drug abuse and diversion
• Facilitates and encourages the identification, intervention with, and treatment of persons addicted to prescription drugs
• Informs public health agencies by outlining abuse trends
• Educates individuals about PDMPs and the use, abuse and diversion of prescription drugs

The prescription drug monitoring program provides healthcare workers nationwide with information about prescriptions that are being filled: their strengths, dosages and quantities; the prescribing physicians; the pharmacies that are filling them; and when they are being filled. Through the NABP PMP InterConnect system we can now link the information gathered from the PDMP across 32 state lines that currently have this system.

This information ultimately helps to deter the diversion of drugs.