Opioid Prescriptions Down Across Michigan

MICHIGAN — Doctors and pharmacists are dispensing fewer opioids across the state, according to Michigan officials, and a new requirement to register the prescriptions in an online database is likely the reason.

The number of opioids dispensed in Michigan decreased in 2018 as more prescribers participated in the Michigan Automated Prescription System (MAPS), state officials said. Compared to 2017, opioid prescriptions dispensed fell by 15 percent while the overall number of schedule 2-5 controlled substance prescriptions decreased by 11.5 percent.

During the same time period, the state saw the MAPS program registration rate, which includes prescribers, pharmacists and delegate users, increased by more than 134 percent.

The Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) released the findings with the 2018 Drug Utilization Report. The report outlines dispensing data by prescriber, dispenser, and patient levels through data collected by MAPS.

Here's what MAPS found:

“MAPS has played a critical role in both combating the opioid epidemic here in Michigan and in ensuring patients who need prescription drugs have access to them,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “As leaders, we have a responsibility to help patients get the care they need and raise awareness on the opioid crisis and the damaging effects it has had on our families and our economy. I’m eager to continue working with LARA to ensure the health and safety of people across the state.”

LARA works with Appriss Health to administer NarxCare, an analytics and care management solution that automatically analyzes MAPS data while providing an interactive visualization of usage patterns to help identify potential risk factors to reinforce our prevention efforts, state officials said.

Here's a look at LARA’s recent efforts and improvements:

• Working with health professionals to integrate MAPS NarxCare analytics with Electronic Medical Records and the Pharmacy Dispensation System throughout Michigan.
• The development of the nation’s first study evaluating the effectiveness of NarxCare. Appriss’s Michigan Implementation and Evaluation analyzes Narxcare risk scores and shows a decline in patients with a high potential to abuse prescription drugs.
• Partnering with Appriss to utilize machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase efficiencies in compliance monitoring.

“As a result of our partnerships with the health care community, MAPS has become an invaluable tool for licensed professionals to use as they make prescribing decisions for their patients,” said LARA Director Orlene Hawks. “This decease demonstrates that we are on the right track and must remain committed to providing state-of-the-art resources to Michigan prescribers and dispensers.”

MAPS – which launched with the PMP AWARxE platform in April 2017 – provides prescribers with a user-friendly portal, making it more efficient for practitioners to obtain information regarding controlled substances and schedule 2-5 drugs that have been dispensed to patients.
Prescribers include dentists, physicians (M.D. and D.O.), podiatrists, optometrists, veterinarians, physician’s assistants with practice agreements and advanced practice registered nurses under delegation.

Public Acts 248 and 249 of 2018 require prescribers of schedule 2-5 controlled substances to be registered with MAPS. All prescribers are required to check MAPS before prescribing a controlled substance in a quantity that exceeds a 3-day supply, too.