MOUNT PROSPECT, IL, Feb. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recognizing the need for military and community treatment providers to deliver appropriate health care based on best-available information, the United States Department of Defense’s Defense Health Agency (DHA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to participate in NABP PMP InterConnect®, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy®’s (NABP®’s) prescription monitoring program (PMP) data sharing system. The MOU was executed and DHA began sharing data with other PMP InterConnect participants in January 2019. There are DHA military hospitals and clinics available to active duty military and their families across the US. While the military hospitals and clinics shared data through an internal network, DHA recognized that more data sharing was necessary to combat the opioid crisis facing the US today. Therefore, DHA created a PMP to collect prescription data from all its locations so that it could be positioned to begin sharing data with state entities and began investigating the best vehicle for sharing PMP data.    “By participating in NABP’s PMP InterConnect, DHA demonstrates that the military is serious about partnering with the states to address the opioid crisis,” says NABP President Susan Ksiazek, RPh, DPh. “PMP InterConnect is a secure national network of PMPs that allows authorized prescribers and pharmacists to access information about their patients’ controlled substance prescriptions across state lines." A report from the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis highlights prescription drug monitoring programs as an important tool to aid in the fight against opioid abuse. Such systems can be used for early detection and prevention of drug abuse and addiction, and a national network like PMP InterConnect allows for a secure exchange of prescription data between states. It can also help identify patients who cross state lines to purchase drugs for the purposes of misuse or diversion. Currently there are 50 PMPs that are actively using PMP InterConnect or have signed MOUs – 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the St Louis County PMP collaborative, and the Defense Health Agency. These PMPs make up the Steering Committee, which is the governing and advisory body of PMP InterConnect. PMP InterConnect currently processes over 35 million requests and 97 million responses per month. It is free of charge for participating PMPs. For more information about PMP InterConnect, visit www.nabp.pharmacy/PMP . NABP is the independent, international, and impartial Association that assists its state member boards and jurisdictions for the purpose of protecting the public health.

Larissa Doucette National Association of Boards of Pharmacy 847/391-4405 help@nabp.pharmacy