Prescription Monitoring Programs for Optimizing Medication Use and Preventing Harm: A Review of Safety and Guidelines

Key Message

No clinical evidence describing the safety of prescription monitoring programs for optimizing medication use and preventing harm were identified.Three evidence-based guidelines and one systematic review of guidelines were identified providing recommendations on the use of prescription monitoring programs for optimizing medication use and preventing harm. All guidelines relevant to this report recommend the use of prescription monitoring programs; the rationale for using prescription monitoring programs varies between guidelines e.g., screening, (adherence) monitoring, risk mitigation, education. There are fewer details, however, about when and how frequently prescribers should review prescription monitoring programs. Evidence to inform the included guidelines was found to range from low-quality (clinical experiences) to high-quality (randomized controlled trials).The absence of clinical evidence identified in the literature does not allow for conclusions to be drawn about how prescription monitoring programs may affect the safety of patients who are prescribed monitored drugs. Since the recommendations included in the guidelines were derived from a variable quality of evidence, caution should be exercised in their interpretation. Moreover, it is unclear how generalizable the recommendations of the included publications are to the Canadian population or to the Canadian healthcare system as they were all conducted and/or produced in the United States.