Prescription drug monitoring programs in community pharmacy: An exploration of pharmacist time requirements and labor cost.

Objective: To (1) measure the average time community pharmacists require to query prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) reports, and (2) estimate pharmacist labor costs associated with PDMP use.

Design: This exploratory project consisted of an observational time study followed by analysis of existing PDMP data sets. Data collected included time spent by pharmacists in Final Verification of controlled substance prescriptions (CSPs), and whether or not they queried the PDMP. Zip code level PDMP query rates and prescription volume of opioid and benzodiazepines (O&BZD) were linked to time-study results to calculate cost estimates of pharmacist labor.

Setting And Participants: Community pharmacists in Connecticut were observed and timed in their usual pharmacy setting as they verified CSPs. Deidentified PDMP data were obtained from the Connecticut Prescription Monitoring and Reporting System.

Outcome Measures: (1) The time required by community pharmacists to query their PDMP in prescription filling workflow, and (2) the estimated labor costs associated with variable PDMP utilization rates.

Results: Between November 2018 and January 2019, 9 pharmacists in 4 independent community pharmacies were observed verifying 53 CSPs. Pharmacists spent more time verifying CSPs when they queried the PDMP versus when they did not query the PDMP (106 ± 66 seconds vs. 28 ± 27 seconds; p < 0.01). Between June 2016 and May 2017, community pharmacists in 24 community pharmacies in 4 represented zip codes queried the PDMP for 11% (n = 19,074) of CSPs dispensed, costing an estimated $24,769 in pharmacist labor. To meet a 100% PDMP query rate for O&BZDs alone, an additional 3735 hours of pharmacist labor ($224,100) would be required.

Conclusion: Pharmacists require considerably more time to verify CSPs when they query PDMPs. This extra time requirement may challenge community pharmacy operating costs, and also impose time pressures on community pharmacists.