DATE: December 15, 2015
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Pomaville, Director, Department of Public Health
Dawan Utecht, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT: Data Sharing Agreement with the California Department of Justice
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a no cost Data Sharing Agreement with the California Department of Justice, Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, effective upon execution ($0).
REPORT
The recommended Agreement will allow the Departments of Public Health and Behavioral Health (Departments) to receive aggregate and de-identified data relative to the prescribing and dispensing patterns of controlled substances by Fresno County practitioners authorized to prescribe, order, administer, furnish, or dispense controlled substances with no net County cost.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended action, the Departments would not be able to obtain aggregate and de-identified data from the California Department of Justice, Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (CA PDMP) for educational, statistical and research purposes.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in net County cost associated with the recommended action. Through the recommended Agreement, the CA PDMP will provide de-identified datasets to the County’s Public Health and Behavioral Health Departments at no cost.
DISCUSSION:
California physicians and pharmacies are required to report to the California Department of Justice, within seven days, every Schedule II, III and IV drug prescription that is written (i.e. Schedule II: ritalin, methadone and morphine; Schedule III: vicodin, ketamine and anabolic steroids; Schedule IV: valium, ambien and clonazepam). The California Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) database stores information regarding drug dispensed, drug quantity and strength, patient name, address, prescriber name, and authorization number including DEA number or prescription number. There are 7,500 pharmacies and 155,000 prescribers in California reporting prescription information annually. In 2013 the CURES datasets were offered, through a pilot program, to selected County Health Officers in California. This allowed Counties to conduct their own epidemiological analysis regarding controlled substance behaviors.
Previously, pharmacies and physicians obtained prescription history information through the Attorney General’s Office. Agencies were provided with patient activity reports which reflected all controlled substances dispensed to an individual. This alerted physicians and pharmacies to individuals who tried to collect multiple narcotic prescriptions from many different doctors.
The datasets provided through the Agreement will assist to provide the prevalence of such chronic diseases as asthma, coronary disease and others that affect the community. The data will be used to analyze, within zip codes only, the usage of psychotropic and opiate medications that may be identified as high risk of misuse of the medication depending on the prescriptions being prescribed and filled by various physicians and/or pharmacies. The information can be used to track distribution of controlled medication prescriptions for chronic disease surveillance that can identify target areas in the community for awareness campaigns, outreach services and education. The datasets will allow the Departments to focus efforts in the areas of the community that represent a higher incidence of abuse. The Departments will be able to obtain statistical information when applying for Federal, State and local grants from the datasets.
The Data Sharing Agreement will be effective upon execution and will have no end term date. Access to the data will be allowed to County staff until such time that the State and/or County terminate the Agreement.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On File with Clerk - Data Sharing Agreement with CA DOJ
CAO ANALYST:
Ron Alexander