Ohio prescription drug tracking system most-utilized in U.S.

Use of the Ohio system tracking prescriptions for controlled substances has reached record levels, Gov. Mike DeWine and State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Steven Schierholt announced last week (Source: “Use of Ohio’s prescription tracking program hits record high,” Portsmouth Daily Times, Aug. 5, 2019).

The Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS,) operated by the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy, allows doctors and pharmacists to access patients’ controlled substance prescription history to help detect prescription drug abuse and intervene with high-risk patients.

Use of OARRS recently surpassed 1 million daily queries on two separate occasions, a milestone which, according to data from the American Medical Association, ranks OARRS as the most utilized prescription drug monitoring program in the country.

According to the state board of pharmacy, the number of individuals engaged in doctor shopping decreased by 89 percent between 2011 to 2018 and the total number of opioid prescriptions decreased by 4.6 million between 2012 and 2018.