Erin Herzig Valley Medical Group Opioid Education and Awareness Task Force

 The Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring Program (MA PMP) is a tool that supports safe prescribing and dispensing and assists in addressing prescription drug misuse, abuse and diversion.  The MA PMP collects dispensing information on Massachusetts Schedule II through V controlled substances dispensed pursuant to a prescription. Schedules II through V consist of those prescription drug products with recognized potential for abuse or dependence (e.g., narcotics, stimulants, sedatives).  Consequently they are among those most sought for illicit and non-medical use.

 I will now go step by step to explain how to use and navigate the PMP.  I will explain the importance of utilizing this extremely useful tool.

 1)Go to the PMP webpage:  2)Click the link that states : “Login to the Virtual Gateway, including the MA Online PMP”

 Click the link that states: “Logon to the Virtual Gateway”

 This will bring you to the Virtual Gateway home page. Save this to your computer as one of your favorites so that you do not have to repeat steps 1-3 every time  Type in your username and password. Then click log in

 You will now be in the welcome screen. To look up a patient, click the “Prescription Monitoring Program” link

 This will bring you to the terms and conditions page. By clicking enter, you are agreeing to the terms a conditions of the Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring website.

 The next screen is where you will begin to look up a patient. To look up a patient, click on the “Single Patient Lookup” link

 This will open a new window where you will type in the patient’s information. Enter patient’s last name, first name, and date of birth. Spelling has to be exact. Then click search.

 Patients name should appear under search results. If it does not, either the patient is not in the system or the spelling may be off. You can try a wild card search.  Wildcard character is asterisk (*)  * At least first 5 characters of LastName + wildcard  (ex. Marti* finds Martin and Martinez)  * At least first 2 characters of FirstName + wildcard  (ex. Su* finds Susan and Suzanne)  * Exact Birthdate (mm/dd/yyyy) 

 Double click on the patient’s name. A new window will open with an overview of the patient’s record. This will show every controlled substance prescription filled by the patient in the state of Massachusetts in the last 12 months.

 The overview includes the Drug (Generic Name), Drug (Trade Name), Strength, Form, Fill Date, Quantity, Days Supply, Prescriber, Pharmacy, and Private Pay (whether the prescription went through insurance or the patient paid cash.

 It does NOT update quickly. There can be a 2-3 week lag period. They are trying to fix this so they system will be updated within 24 hours.  It does NOT show Methadone from a Methadone clinic  This is currently for controlled substances filled in Massachusetts only. They are working on integrating other states.  It is NOT automatically integrated into the EMR (electronic medical record). Again, they are working on fixing this.

10) Patients name should appear under search results. If it does not, either the patient is not in the system or the spelling may be off. You can try a wild card search. * At least first 5 characters of Last Name + wildcard (ex. Marti* finds Martin and Martinez) * At least first 2 characters of FirstName + wildcard (ex. Su* finds Susan and Suzanne) * Exact Birthdate (mm/dd/yyyy) 11) Double click on the patient’s name. A new window will open with an overview of the patient’s record. This will show every controlled substance prescription filled by the patient in the state ofMassachusettsin the last 12 months. 12) The overview includes theDrug (Generic Name),Drug (Trade Name),Strength, Form,Fill Date,Quantity,Days Supply,Prescriber,Pharmacy, andPrivate Pay (whether the prescription went throughinsurance or the patient paid cash. 13) At the bottom of the page, there is a print button for printing out the patients record. Wildcard character is an asterisk (*)