Recently, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law aimed at combating the growing opioid epidemic. While there were a lot of provisions to the bill, one of the primary ones affecting hospitals around the state is a mandate requiring controlled substance prescribers to use the Iowa Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) prior to prescribing opioids.

Guthrie County Hospital Director of Pharmacy Dr. DeAnn Wedemeyer explain the program. “The PMP is actually a statewide database that collects information about patients and the controlled substance prescriptions that they are receiving. The reports that are generated from the PMP can be provided to practitioners and that will become a requirement. Those reports then can assist the prescribers in identifying patients who may be misusing or abusing addictive drugs, including opioids.”

Other requirements from the legislation include continuing education for practitioners who prescribe opioids, and penalties for practitioners who prescribe opioids in excessive amounts.