The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is promoting the use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and health information exchange (HIE) tools to address the opioid epidemic in the US. Nebraska has been leveraging PDMP technology to identify patients at a high risk of opioid dependency and has had to support public health efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. ONC has developed several resources and projects to support PDMP adoption and use, including the LPASO report and the State Strategies Toolkit. The collaboration between the stakeholders and the use of technology is key to addressing the opioid epidemic.
The opioid epidemic has been a persistent challenge for healthcare providers and public health officials in the United States. In recent years, there has been a growing focus on using technology to address this crisis. One important tool in this effort is the prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), a state-run electronic database that tracks pharmacy and patient data related to controlled substances and prescription drugs. By leveraging PDMPs, prescribers can better monitor patients at high risk of becoming opioid-dependent and take steps to prevent addiction.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has been working to promote the use of PDMPs and other health information exchange (HIE) tools to address the opioid epidemic. In a recent blog post on HealthITBuzz, ONC officials Donna Davidson and Kevin Borcher highlighted some of the ways that HIE and PDMPs are being used to support public health efforts in Nebraska.
Nebraska was an early adopter of PDMP technology and has been leveraging this tool for patient safety and population health projects. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nebraska’s statewide HIE, CyncHealth, expanded its capabilities to collect and report medications beyond traditional controlled substances. By analyzing PDMP data, CyncHealth was able to identify patients on prescriptions typically used to treat chronic diseases or medications that could suppress the immune system. This information was shared with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which worked with CyncHealth to plan a project that used public health data on patients with COVID-19 to search for correlations between concomitant medications and morbidity or mortality rates.
This project is an example of the potential for collaboration between PDMPs, HIEs, and state public health agencies to address complex public health challenges. The success of this effort has led ONC officials to praise Nebraska’s approach and highlight it as an example for other states and stakeholders to follow.
To support the adoption and use of PDMPs and other health IT tools, ONC has developed several resources and projects. One of these is the report “Leveraging PDMPs and Health IT for Addressing Substance Use Disorder and Opioid Use Disorder (LPASO),” which examines how PDMP policies and technology can support substance and opioid misuse identification, prevention, and treatment in states and territories. Through LPASO, ONC has also supported the development of a toolkit, “State Strategies Toolkit to Improve the Use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs to Address Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders.” This toolkit provides guidance to states on how to improve access to and ease of use of PDMP information by healthcare providers.
Overall, the ONC’s efforts to promote the use of PDMPs and other health IT tools are an important step in addressing the opioid epidemic. By leveraging these technologies, healthcare providers and public health officials can better identify patients at risk of opioid misuse and take steps to prevent addiction. With continued collaboration between stakeholders and the development of new tools and resources, there is hope that the opioid epidemic can be brought under control.
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