Addiction

Promises and Perils of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs: Workshop Report

This piece was part of a symposium featuring commentary from participants in the Center for Health Policy and Law’s annual conference, Promises and Perils of Emerging Health Innovations, held on April 11-12, 2019 at Northeastern University School of Law. The symposium was originally posted through the Northeastern University Law Review Online Forum. Promises and Perils of Emerging Health…

Pile of colorful pills in blister packs

This piece was part of a symposium featuring commentary from participants in the Center for Health Policy and Law’s annual conference, Promises and Perils of Emerging Health Innovations, held on April 11-12, 2019 at Northeastern University School of Law. The symposium was originally posted through the Northeastern University Law Review Online Forum.

Promises and Perils of Emerging Health Innovations Blog Symposium

We are pleased to present this symposium featuring commentary from participants in the Center for Health Policy and Law’s annual conference, Promises and Perils of Emerging Health Innovations, held on April 11-12, 2019 at Northeastern University School of Law. As a note, additional detailed analyses of issues discussed during the conference will be published in the upcoming Winter Issue of the Northeastern University Law Review.

Throughout the two-day conference, speakers and attendees discussed how innovations, including artificial intelligence, robotics, mobile technology, gene therapies, pharmaceuticals, big data analytics, tele- and virtual health care delivery, and new models of delivery, such as accountable care organizations (ACOs), retail clinics, and medical-legal partnerships (MLPs), have entered and changed the healthcare market. More dramatic innovations and market disruptions are likely in the years to come. These new technologies and market disruptions offer immense promise to advance health care quality and efficiency, as well as improve provider and patient engagement. Success will depend, however, on careful consideration of potential perils and well-planned interventions to ensure new methods ultimately further, rather than diminish, the health of patients, especially those who are the most vulnerable.

In the final post of the Promises and Perils of Emerging Health Innovations blog symposium, Leo Beletsky and the team from Health in Justice Action Lab provide a summary of an event held in conjunction with the Center for Health Policy and Law’s 2019 annual health law conference. The Promises and Perils of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) workshop was held on April 13, 2019 and convened experts, practitioners, experts, and other stakeholders to brainstorm strategies with the goal to “maximize the benefits of PDMPs, while minimizing harms.” Visit the Health in Justice Action Lab website (linked below) for information on this and other projects underway. 

Promises and Perils of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs: Workshop Report

By Health in Justice Action Lab

In the wake of the opioid overdose crisis, all United States jurisdictions have rapidly adopted Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (“PDMPs”). PDMPs electronically collect, monitor, and analyze controlled substance prescription information. Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs), CDC https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/pdmp_factsheet-a.pdf (last visited October 30, 2019). According to the CDC, PDMPs “continue to be among the most promising state-level interventions to improve opioid prescribing, inform clinical practice, and protect patients at risk.” What States Need to Know about PDMPs, CDC (Oct. 3, 2017), https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdmp/states.html. These purported benefits have been elusive, however, while various shortcomings and pitfalls have received little scrutiny.

Read the rest of the post at Northeastern University Law Review Forum.