Online prescription drug monitoring program available in Texas
At the urging of the Texas Legislature, the Texas Department of Public Safety developed the Prescription Access in Texas program, which provides controlled substances dispensing history to authorized healthcare and law enforcement professionals.
Texas now has an online prescription monitoring program in place.
At the urging of the Texas Legislature, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) developed the Prescription Access in Texas (PAT) program, which provides controlled substances dispensing history to authorized healthcare and law enforcement professionals.
“It is essential that doctors and pharmacists have quick access to the information they need to identify potential prescription drug abusers and traffickers before they fraudulently receive the drugs,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw.
In addition, the PAT program will allow a proactive approach to prevention, assist with criminal investigations, and provide historical reporting information, according to McCraw.
DPS officials launched PAT in June to a select group of practitioners, pharmacists, and law enforcement professionals. This week, DPS extended program access to additional physicians, law enforcement officials, and mid-level practitioners, as well as medical board and nursing board investigators.
As part of the PAT program, pharmacists must report prescription data within 7 days of the prescription being filled. The PAT database includes Schedule II to Schedule V drugs for the past 12 months only. Each registered user must provide licensing information to ensure that data is released only to authorized users, according to DPS.
