A Pilot Study: Integrating an Emergency Department with Indiana's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

摘要

Rapid increase in abuse and overdose of controlled substances was the main driving force of implementing Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP). We aimed to describe how the integrated Indiana's PDMP (INSPECT) data into an electronic health record (EHR) can improve clinical workflow within an emergency department (ED). After integration, upon patient arrival into the ED, a PDMP report containing history of dispensed schedule Ⅱ-Ⅴ medications is retrieved and stored in the patient's medical record. The evaluation of the new system among physicians showed high satisfaction of having access to the patients' medication history through the existing EHR. We show that the PDMP data was easily accessible and more informative in the new integrated system. The PDMP report alters the pattern of prescribing narcotic medications to patients. In conclusion, enhancing workflow through PDMP reports integration with the patients' EHR is valued by the clinicians and reduces the number of narcotic prescriptions.