To: Washington State Pharmacists, Spokane Pharmacy Association Members
From: Michael Brandt, PharmD, SPA President
Re: Washington State Prescription Monitoring Program
- The information below was received from the Washington State Department of Health. Please review the information provided and go on-line to familiarize yourself with this initiative.
PMP Stakeholders:
The program has reached some important milestones that we would like to share with you. Please pass this message on as we want to make sure all impacted dispensers (pharmacies and practitioners who dispense controlled substances) are aware of the data submission requirements.
Attached is a dispenser fact sheet which provides all the information a dispenser needs to know when creating their on-line account and to find the implementation guide.
Rule Update:
We reviewed comments received during the public comment period; made necessary changes, and filed the rules for adoption on July 27, 2011. The rules become effective on August 27, 2011.
Dispenser Requirements:
In order to meet the requirements of the new rules, dispensers need to take the following steps:
- Log on to the WA PMP website (www.wapmp.org) and read the Dispenser’s Implementation Guide by selecting the WA PMP Data Uploader link from the menu on the left.
- Create an account for submitting data to the program (available September 14, 2011).
- Begin working as soon as possible with your pharmacy software vendor to make necessary updates and begin testing with our PMP vendor in order to begin submitting data on October 7, 2011. You may begin sending files to test data submission on September 14, 2011.
Technical or Policy Related Questions:
Health Information Designs, Inc. (HID) hosts the WA PMP. It is a nationally-recognized leader in the PMP and healthcare automation solutions and services industry. If you need any technical assistance as you prepare to begin data submission, please call HID’s WA PMP Helpdesk at (877) 719-3121, or send an e-mail to wapmp-info@hidinc.com.
If you have policy related questions please contact me at 360.236.4806, or at prescriptionmonitoring@doh.wa.gov.
Sincerely,
Chris Baumgartner, PMP Director
WA Department of Health
PO Box 47852
Olympia, WA 98504-7852
Phone: 360.236.4806
Fax: 360.236.2901