The Commonwealth of Virginia and Purdue Pharma, a privately held pharmaceutical company, have entered a public-private partnership to expand use of the state prescription monitoring program.
With funding from Purdue Pharma, Governor Terry McAuliffe (D-Va.) and the Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources Bill Hazel, MD, will work to connect the prescription monitoring program to the EHRs used by Virginia prescribers and pharmacists and to make the program interoperable across state lines.
The current statewide prescription monitoring program provides users with a patient's prescription history for the past 12 months, based on reports by pharmacies delivering to people in Virginia. The program aims to address the opioid epidemic by preventing duplicate drug therapy and prescription drug misuse.
"The epidemic of opioid addiction is a public health emergency in Virginia, and combating it is a top priority for my administration," said Gov. McAuliffe. "The Prescription Monitoring Program is a critical prevention tool that helps curb abuse of prescription medications, and I applaud this enhancement that makes the PMP easier and more likely for physicians to use."