Question - What current gaps in the PDMP (Prescription Drug Monitoring Program) database may create short term inaccuracies for patient prescription histories?
Answer - The cited reference notes “When pharmacists dispense controlled substances to patients, they have to enter the prescription into the state PDMP. However, pharmacies submit this data to state PDMPs at varying intervals—ranging from monthly to daily or even in “real-time,” i.e., under five minutes. If there is a long interval between dispensing and submission into the state PDMP, providers and other PDMP users will not have information on patients’ most recent prescriptions. Timely data, like in a “real-time” PDMP, maximizes the utility of the prescription history data, with significant implications for patient safety and public health.” (https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdmp/states.html; accessed August 2019)