Summit Health Law Partners

Contact

Boston
Providence

Boston

One Beacon Street
Suite 1320
Boston, MA 02108

T 617.598.6700
F 617.720.5092

Providence

One Richmond Sq.
Suite 165W
Providence, RI 02906
T 401.454.0400
F 401.454.0404

August 29, 2016

New MA Prescription Monitoring Program Goes Live August 22, 2016

On Monday, August 22, 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Health (“DPH”) launched a new Prescription Monitoring Program (“PMP”) database, known as the Massachusetts Prescription Awareness Tool or “MassPAT.”

DPH reportedly spent $6 million to upgrade the former PMP database with the new MassPAT system. Like MassPAT, the former database provided authorized prescribers and pharmacists access to a patient’s history for all Schedule II through IV controlled substances prescribed in Massachusetts for the previous twelve-month period. MassPAT, however, offers an enhanced platform that allows authorized users quicker access to the prescribing data and reports. DPH has also represented that MassPAT is compatible with Massachusetts healthcare providers’ electronic medical record systems and is interoperable with PMPs in several neighboring states. At present, MassPAT includes data sharing with Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont. By the end of August, DPH expects MassPAT to allow data sharing with New York and further connectivity with Maine and New Hampshire will likely follow in the near future. The expansive reach of the MassPAT will serve to inform clinical decision-making and prevent duplicate prescribing between states.

With limited exceptions, DPH regulations presently require prescribers to perform a search of the PMP prior to the prescribing of certain medications, such as narcotics and benzodiazepines, to a patient for the first time. In addition, the Massachusetts Medical Society’s Opioid Prescribing Guidelines, which have been adopted by the Board of Registration in Medicine, recommend that prescribers check the PMP every 60 to 90 days for patients receiving opioids to treat chronic pain. As a result of the landmark opioid legislation that Governor Charlie Baker signed into law in March, Massachusetts law will require more frequent use of the PMP in the upcoming months. Effective October 15, 2016, prescribers must query the PMP each time they prescribe an opioid or benzodiazepine medication to most patients.

According to data from DPH, less than half of prescribers who issued 200 or more prescriptions for Schedule II narcotics in 2015 performed a search of the PMP that year. Given the marked increase in opioid-related deaths over the past decade, with 1,500 reported opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts in 2015 alone, providers can expect opioid prescribing to remain a high priority for law enforcement agencies and licensing boards for the foreseeable future. Strict adherence to the current regulations and guidance regarding opioid prescribing, including regular use of the MassPAT PMP database, could substantially mitigate enforcement risk and, hopefully, prevent opioid-related deaths.

Please check this website for upcoming notices and informational materials regarding MassPAT.

Resources

MassPAT Tutorial Videos
http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/hcq/drug-control/pmp/masspat-training.html

Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Prescription Monitoring Program Discussion Document; Summer 2016
http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/quality/drugcontrol/pmp/masspat-discussion-document.pdf

Massachusetts Department of Public Health, MA Prescription Monitoring Program County-Level Data Measures; August 2016
http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/quality/drugcontrol/county-level-pmp/prescription-monitoring-program-pmp-data-county-overview-august-2016.pdf

Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Prescription Monitoring Program Annual Report; April 2016
file:///C:/Users/MTaberner/Downloads/Prescription%20monitoring%20program.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain; March 18, 2016
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/rr6501e1.htm

Massachusetts Medical Society, Opioid Therapy and Physician Communication Guidelines; last updated on August 20, 2015
http://www.massmed.org/Advocacy/Key-Issues/Opioid-Abuse/Opioid-Therapy-and-Physician-Communication-Guidelines-(pdf)/

Massachusetts Medical Society: Webinar: Incorporating the Opioid Prescribing Guidelines Into Practice
http://www.massmed.org/Patient-Care/Health-Topics/Massachusetts-Medical-Society-Opioid-Therapy-and-Physician-Communication-Guidelines/#.V72vtY-cHcs

© 2021  |  website: visual dialogue

News

Health Law

Litigation

Corporate

Research Misconduct

Notice

This website presents general information about Summit Health Law Partners and is not intended as legal advice nor should you consider it as such. You should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.

Please note that contacting Summit Health Law Partners by email, telephone or facsimile will not establish an attorney-client relationship, obligate us to act as your attorney or impose an obligation on either the law firm or the receiving lawyer to keep the transmitted information confidential. Completion of Summit Health Law Partners' new client intake protocol, including without limitation the firm’s conflicts checking process and an engagement letter, is necessary to establish an attorney-client relationship. Absent a current attorney-client relationship with Summit Health Law Partners, any information or documents communicated or transmitted by you to Summit Health Law Partners will not be treated as confidential, secret or protected in any way. If you are not a current client of Summit Health Law Partners, please do not send any confidential information to us through this website or otherwise concerning any potential or actual legal matter you have. Before providing any confidential information to us, you must obtain permission to do so from one of the firm’s lawyers. By clicking "Accept," you acknowledge that we have no obligation to maintain the confidentiality of any information you submit to us unless we already represent you or unless we have agreed to receive limited confidential material/information from you as a prospective client.

If you would like to discuss becoming a client, please contact one of our attorneys to arrange for a meeting or telephone conference. If you wish to disclose confidential information to a lawyer in the firm before an attorney-client relationship is established, the protections that the law firm will provide to such information from a prospective client should be discussed with the firm attorney before such information is submitted. Thank you for your interest in Summit Health Law Partners.

© 2021   Privacy Policy  |  Attorney Advertising/Legal Notice  |  website: visual dialogue