Implementation of Electronic Health Record Integration and Clinical Decision Support to Improve Emergency Department Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Use

Methodology 3/5
Usefulness 2/5

Hoppe JA, et al. Ann Emerg Med. 2024 Jan;83(1):3-13.

Question and Methods: The study evaluated whether integrating prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) tools with clinical decision support in EHR workflows improved PDMP usage and opioid prescribing practices using a stepped-wedge design.
Findings: PDMP usage improved modestly during clinical alerts (23.8%), but overall usage remained below expectations and never exceeded 40%.
Limitations: Low PDMP adoption rates with limited sustained effects post-alert removal, and reliance on proprietary risk scoring tools.

Interpretation: Integrating PDMP tools into EHR workflows can improve opioid prescribing safety, but long-term engagement strategies and ongoing workflow optimization are essential.

By Dr. Sangitha Mensingh

JC Supervisor: Dr. Krishan Yadav

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Authors

Sangitha Mensingh

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Hans Rosenberg

Dr. Rosenberg is an emergency physician at the Ottawa Hospital, associate professor at the University of Ottawa, and Director of the Digital Scholarship and Knowledge Dissemination Program.
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Krishan Yadav

Dr. Krishan Yadav is an FRCPC Emergency Medicine Physician, and Epidemiologist with a special interest in non-purulent skin and soft tissue infectious disease.
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