In January, the American Medicine Chest Challenge (AMCC) added a national directory of permanent
prescription drug collection sites to its web site. AMCC launched this national directory with law
enforcement and community partners.  The Directory now lists sites in 21 states.  Organizations
operating a permanent collection site are encouraged by AMCC to visit their web site at www.americanmedicinechest.com.
There is no cost to participate in this list.

Marketing experts, decision scientists, patient advocates, and clinicians have developed a set of
guiding principles and basic expectations underpinning patient-clinician communication.  These
Basic Principles include: 

• Mutual respect

• Harmonized goals

• A supportive environment

• Appropriate decision partners

• The right information

• Transparency and full disclosure

• Continuous learning

 This work was stewarded under the auspices of the Best Practices and Evidence Communication
Innovation Collaboratives of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Value & Science-Driven
Health Care. Collaborative participants intend these principles and expectations to serve as
common touchstone reference points for both patients and clinicians, as they and their related
organizations seek to foster the partnership and patient engagement necessary to improve health
outcomes and value from care delivered. 

A new mobile app was recently launched which allows consumers to compare drug prices at pharmacy
chains in a 10 mile radius, based on the GPS location of the phone, or within a specific zip code.
The application will offer pricing information for over 1,00o drugs, both proprietary and generic,
at major chain pharmacies. Also included with the application is a discount card the help consumers
save off the retail price. Similar complementary applications include prescription order
applications from select pharmacies, and a discount medication list.

According to a new report issued by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), chronic pain
and addiction are issues faced by patients from all walks of life and in all types of treatment
settings. And, yet, very few physicians are sufficiently educated about the potential psychiatric
and addiction consequences of prescribing scheduled medications like opioid analgesics and sedative
hypnotics (two of the most commonly misused classes of prescription medication).  The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention reports that the sale of prescription pain drugs has increased by
300% since 1999 and the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Administration) reports that nearly 1 in 6 non-medical users of prescription pain
killers got the drug through a prescription from a doctor. Currently, there are no requirements
that prescribers prove they are competent to prescribe these potentially lethal drugs.  

To that end, ASAM recommends that all health professionals who can prescribe scheduled medications
must be included in any educational efforts to improve patient outcomes and public health.  One
part of the solution is to mandate prescriber education for all health professionals licensed to
prescribe, dispense or administer prescription drugs. A public health response should also include
patient education, training for medical students and residents in safe prescribing practices, pain
medicine and addiction medicine, implementation of coordinated state prescription drug monitoring
programs, and support for continued research on patterns of manufacture, distribution and sales of
psychoactive drugs which have the potential for diversion and misuse.  

A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) calls on federal agencies to do a better job
of coordinating and assessing the effectiveness of their efforts to educate prescribers and the
public about prescription drug abuse. The report notes that while all agencies have established
measures to monitor the implementation and functional elements of their education programs, only
two agencies have established or are planning to set up ways to evaluate the impact of their
efforts on audiences’ knowledge, attitudes and behavior.

The Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration are among the federal agencies that have programs to educate
prescribers about prescription drug abuse. Their strategies include continuing medical education
programs, requiring training and certification in order to prescribe certain drugs and developing
curriculum resources for future prescribers.  According to the report, the Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP) is developing a legislative proposal to require education for prescribers
registering with the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe controlled substances.

The GAO found several instances of agencies engaging in similar efforts, directed at similar
audiences, but noted federal agencies have recently begun to coordinate. The ONDCP should establish
outcome measures and implement a plan to evaluate proposed educational efforts, and ensure that
agencies share lessons learned among similar educational programs, the report concluded. (Source:
Join Together, The Partnership at Drugfree.org).