Florida's PDMP rolled out in 2011, but only 21% of physicians are registered

As of November 2016, only 21 percent of Florida's physicians and 57 percent of pharmacists signed up for the state's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, which was established in 2011, according to researchers at the Gainsville-based University of Florida Health.

The study, published in the Journal of Opioid Management and led by Chris Delcher, PhD, an assistant professor in the UF College of Medicine's department of health outcomes and policy, reviewed participation in the state's opioid dispensing database to determine whether more physicians and pharmacists were signing up for and using the database between 2013 and 2016.

In Florida, pharmacists were 52.2 percent more likely to use the PDMP than physicians (30.1 percent). However, physicians who use the database do so more frequently than pharmacists, averaging 58.1 queries of patients' controlled substance prescription histories electronically compared to 36.1.

Florida, which does not mandate providers to register for the system as is required in 27 other states, notes physician registration lags behind the national average by 9.5 percent. The state must see roughly 25,000 physicians and 31,000 pharmacists register by the end of 2017 to meet national policy goals established by former President Barack Obama.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency in May, proposed all healthcare professionals who prescribe or dispense medication use the PDMP. The proposal, announced in September, will be discussed in the next legislative session, which begins in January.

Dr. Delcher hopes an increased awareness of the PMDP among physicians will increase its use.

"Our focus is mostly on trying to get voluntary buy-in by showing how valuable the database is from a public health perspective," Dr. Delcher said.

More articles on opioids:

Baby boomers and millennials most harmed by opioid crisis 
Study: Medication therapies cheaper than detox for opioid addiction treatment 
Medline creates fentanyl-resistant gloves for emergency medical workers

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