Prescription drug monitoring program inquiry in psychiatric assessment: detection of high rates of opioid prescribing to a dual diagnosis population.

Objective: An epidemic of prescription drug abuse is disproportionately impacting the mentally ill. We examined the utility of a state prescription drug monitoring database for assessing recent controlled substance prescribing to patients presenting for dual diagnosis treatment.

Method: In a community mental health center that provides integrated dual diagnosis care, we queried the Indiana Scheduled Prescription Electronic Collection and Tracking (INSPECT) system for all cases that were open as of August 2, 2011, and had been practitioner-diagnosed (per DSM-IV criteria) by January 2, 2012.