Ongoing regulatory scrutiny and new priorities can change how regulators evaluate compliance. Multi-state operators who build PDMP checks into their daily workflow are in a strong position to show that work because they aren’t relying on staff to remember every step by hand.
A prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) used to have one job. It showed a pharmacist what controlled substances a patient had already filled. That job is changing. In the recent webinar, “Dispensing Safely at Scale: A Multi-State PDMP Playbook,” hosted by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), state PDMP administrators described programs that are layering in new kinds of data.
Pharmacists who attended the webinar asked practical questions about running a PDMP check across state lines today. Here’s a look at where PDMP reports are headed and what multi-state dispensers are already asking.
Where PDMP Reports Are Headed Next
Several states are leading the way in innovative PDMP use cases, including integrating:
- Opioid-antidote administration data from EMS crews, first responders, and health systems
- Non-fatal overdose events, which carry an increased risk of continued overdose
- Decedent data, meaning flagging patients who have died to help pharmacists catch this before filling a prescription for someone who has already passed away
- Care navigation modules to turn insight into action with the support of automated care navigation follow-up
- Opportunities to trigger additional care workflows to leverage real-time signals in new ways that drive faster action and improve compliance and quality outcomes
Taken together, these additions point to the same shift. A PDMP is becoming less like a static list of past fills and more like a live clinical signal.
Frequently Asked Questions from Multi-State Pharmacy Operators
Do we still need to file a zero report if we’re licensed in a state but rarely dispense there?
It depends entirely on the state. In a state like South Carolina and several other states, most dispensing software can auto-file a zero report on days you don’t dispense, and exemption forms don’t expire once submitted. Other states vary in how automatic or manual this process is. Check your state’s PDMP requirements.
Is there a way for a mail-order pharmacy to check multiple states without maintaining a separate login for each one?
Standard PDMP integration typically checks the pharmacy’s home state by default. Today, seeing data from other states usually means logging in to a state that shares data with your patient’s state, then searching it directly. Vendors are now building options designed specifically for how mail-order pharmacists are registered across states. It’s worth asking yours what’s available now versus what’s on the roadmap.
Will PDMPs ever track what wholesalers ship to pharmacies, not just what’s dispensed to patients?
Tracking of what wholesalers ship to pharmacies is not yet a common practice. A handful of states, including Ohio and Michigan, collect wholesaler-to-pharmacy distribution data. But most PDMP systems stop at the point of dispensing. It’s a more complex dataset, and closing that gap is more of a long-term direction than a near-term feature.
The Gaps Leading to Higher Costs and Risks
New data types and new operational questions are showing up on the same timeline. As PDMPs take on more clinical and care-coordination functions, the practical questions about how to use them well are only going to multiply. Staying current on both is part of staying ready.
For more information on multi-state PDMP check integration, read part one of this blog post or visit bamboohealth.com/nabpwebinar to connect with our team.
