Prescription Drug Monitoring? There’s an App for That

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Earlier this week, New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs announced the launch of a new iPhone app that will allow authorized users of the state’s prescription drug monitoring program—namely pharmacists and prescribers licensed in New Jersey—to access the crucial database via their smartphone or tablet. The New Jersey Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (NJPMP) operates under the Division of Consumer Affairs and this state department is also responsible for managing and updating the prescription drug database.

The NJPMP collects data on prescriptions for controlled substances filled in the state of New Jersey, including opiate painkillers and a variety of narcotics. Prescribers can conveniently use the database to locate patients who may be “doctor shopping,” which the NJPMP defines as “deceptively visiting multiple physicians to obtain more prescription drugs than [a single doctor] would prescribe” or “trying to illegally obtain prescription drugs through use of multiple pharmacies.”

Officially launching in the year 2011, the NJPMP views this new iPhone app as the latest in a recurring series of upgrades that the Program has laid out for the coming months. A major goal, according to acting Attorney general John J. Hoffman, is to make the NJPMP as user-friendly as possible—thus increasing adoption rates among prescribers and pharmacists, whose participation in actively addressing prescription drug abuse is critical.

According to the NJPMP, 88.4% of the state’s 29,400 licensed prescribers are registered to use the NJPMP and between March and April of 2015, 169,000 user requests were submitted. The app is currently only available for iPhones and iPads, however, the NJPMP plans to launch both Android and Windows apps by the summer.

For more information on the New Jersey Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, check out a brief released by the Department of Consumer Affairs here!

SOURCE: mobihealthnews 

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.