Ohio Prescription Database Fight

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association is working with the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy to write a law requiring doctors, nurses, dentists and others who write prescriptions for narcotic pain killers to consult a database. This is meant to prevent patient drug abuse.

According to the paper, Ohio would be the second state after Nevada to have this requirement.

However, doctor groups are expected to oppose this law because it adds another requirement.

Jeff Smith, director of government relations at the Ohio State Medical Association, said the group would likely oppose any mandate on doctors forcing them to check a database for prescriptions.

"We're not ready to agree to that kind of administrative burden on the Ohio physicians," Smith said, adding that it would hit doctors at a time when they are seeing more patients and implementing their own electronic medical records.

Doctors receive training on what to look for and how to evaluate potential patients who are doctor shopping for dangerous pain medications, Smith said.

However, he said, the statewide doctor's association is willing to work with the pharmacy board to understand why physicians aren't already voluntarily participating.

What are your thoughts on this? It often is the pharmacist who is required to verify that patients are not doctor shopping and abusing prescriptions. This bill attacks the problem from another angle. Is it more effective this way or through pharmacies?

Medical Cost Database

A state representative in Colorado is pushing a bill to create a state medical cost database. Basically, this would allow for transparancy into medical costs at various locations across the state.

The database systems combine information from all patients, whether they paid through private health insurance, Medicaid or out of their pockets.

Kefalas said he'd like to see Colorado's system track the cost of various episodes of care and compare them to similar situations in other parts of the state.

This is a good idea to help illuminate some of our medical care costs and perhaps a step in the right direction to lower them.

South Dakota Database

South Dakota is taking steps to implement a database to prevent doctor shopping. With the economic problems, questions remain whether the project could receive long-term funding. Additionally, it remains to be seen which government agency would supervise the database. The Attorney General is a supporter-

Attorney General Marty Jackley doesn't see money as a problem. Federal grants are available for start-up, and a pool of money from legal settlements can pay the bills for as long as 10 years before the state would need to look for more federal money or increase fees or taxes to maintain the database.

What are your thoughts on these systems? Have you as a pharmacist been subjected to increased burdens and problems?