Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2009, $400,000)
Since the beginning of FY 2002, Congress has appropriated funding to the U.S. Department of Justice to support the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). Prescription drug monitoring programs enhance the capacity of regulatory and law enforcement agencies and public health officials to collect and analyze controlled substance prescription data through a centralized database administered by an authorized state agency. These programs are designed to help prevent and detect the diversion and abuse of pharmaceutical controlled substances, particularly at the retail level where no other automated information collection system exists.
The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program assists states as they plan, implement, or enhance a PDMP. PDMPs: build a state-level data collection and analysis system to enhance the capacity of regulatory and law enforcement agencies and public health officials for future prevention efforts; enhance existing programs' abilities to analyze and use collected data to identify drug abuse trends and increase the number of users of the PDMP; facilitate national evaluation efforts to ensure continued support; encourage the exchange of information among states to prevent cross-border diversion; assess the efficiency and effectiveness of programs to ensure continued state-level support; and, enhance collaborations with law enforcement, prosecutors, treatment professionals, the medical community, and pharmacies to establish a comprehensive PDMP strategy.
The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (Cabinet) has been awarded a Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) grant for enhancement of the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting (KASPER) system. The Cabinet plans to utilize the grant funds in three major areas: increasing usage of KASPER; implementing automated interstate PDMP data exchange capability; and, enhancing the analysis of KASPER data. KASPER has proven to be a vital tool for Kentucky health care providers and law enforcement officers in their fight against prescription drug abuse and diversion. The Cabinet will utilize grant funds to promote a better understanding and increased use of KASPER, and to provide in-depth education and training on the use of the system to heath care providers and law enforcement officers. The Cabinet plans to increase the number of authorized users and the number of reports generated by a minimum of 10% each. To address the problem with drug seekers that cross state borders to obtain drugs for abuse and diversion, the Cabinet plans to utilize grant funds to support the Prescription Monitoring Information Exchange (PMIX) project to develop and implement a secure method for automated exchange of PDMP data. The Cabinet will work with Ohio and other states to complete a regional pilot and implement a production PDMP data exchange capability. The Cabinet has begun utilizing KASPER data to identify controlled substance prescribing and usage trends within the state. The Cabinet plans to use grant funds to expand efforts to utilize Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technologies to identify potential drug usage 'hot spots', and to provide specific localized information and data to law enforcement officers and to health care providers regarding potential increases in abuse and diversion by drug type. The Cabinet will expand its ability to make local data available to Regional Prevention Centers and civic organizations to help in their efforts to educate citizens regarding the scope of the problem and to identify the geographic areas in which they need to focus their prevention efforts. The Cabinet also plans to utilize grant funds to participate in national and regional PDMP meetings and conferences to enhance working relationships with PDMP and drug enforcement officials from other states. This will strengthen their combined efforts to fight prescription drug abuse and diversion.
CA/NCF