Many states have a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), but not all allow clinicians to see what potentially dangerous medications patients have received across state lines. The Massachusetts state Department of Public Health recently arranged to participate in a multistate system, linking prescription monitoring programs in dozens of states, The Boston Globe reported.
"In a geographically small state, people cross borders all the time," said Dennis M. Dimitri, M.D., president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. "If you are practicing on the border of Rhode Island or New Hampshire, you don't know if patients are getting a prescription from a doctor just a few miles away."
Rhode Island and Connecticut are already participating in the program, known as the PMP InterConnect of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. New York and Maine also recently signed agreements, while New Hampshire has been in discussions about joining. Article