Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Pharmacist Orientation Toward Dispensing Controlled Substances

ABSTRACT

Objectives: We sought to understand how pharmacists viewed and used a newly implemented prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). We also sought to understand pharmacist orientation toward dispensing of controlled substances and the people who obtain them. Methods: We conducted three mini focus groups. The focus group findings were used to inform the design of a structured survey. We emailed a survey to 160 pharmacists who were employed in one statewide community chain store; we obtained 48 survey responses. Results: Focus groups findings suggested that, in relation to the dispensing of scheduled prescription medication, pharmacists were either “healthcare” oriented, “law-enforcement” oriented, or an orientation that combined these two perspectives. Surveys suggested that pharmacists found PDMPs easy to use and that they used them frequently – often to contact physicians directly. Surveys suggested that pharmacists were typically either “healthcare” oriented or “mixed” (combined perspectives). Pharmacist orientation was associated with the frequency with which they counseled patients about medication risk and the frequency with which they used the PDMP as the basis for contacting prescribers. Conclusions: Ongoing tracking of pharmacists' use of PDMPs is important both at the implementation stage and as PDMPs develop over time. The orientation construct developed here is useful in understanding pharmacist behavior and attitudes towards patients potentially at risk for misuse of controlled substance medications. Further research on this construct could shed light on barriers and incentives for pharmacist PDMP participation and use and provide guidance for pharmacist training, ultimately enhancing patient care.

KEYWORDS:

• PDMP
• pharmacist
• diversion
• controlled substances
• training

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the support of the Wisconsin Distinguished Professorship for conducting this research. We would like to thank the Concordia University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy for research support and providing a space for focus groups. We are especially grateful to Green and colleagues for sharing their original PDMP questionnaire with us in the beginning of our survey development. Finally, we are indebted to our community pharmacy liaisons, Richard U'Ren, PharmD, for assisting in the survey development, and Stephen Shuda, RPH, for assisting in the online survey recruitment.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.