A survey of Physicians' Perspectives on the New York State Mandatory Prescription Monitoring Program (ISTOP)

Background: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have emerged as one tool to combat prescription drug misuse and diversion. New York State mandates that prescribers use its PDMP (called ISTOP) before prescribing controlled substances. We surveyed physicians to assess their experiences with mandatory PDMP use.

Methods: Electronic survey of attending physicians, from multiple clinical specialties, at one large urban academic medical center.

Results: Of 207 responding physicians, 89.4% had heard of ISTOP, and of those, 91.1% were registered users. 45.7% of respondents used the system once per week or more. There was significant negative feedback, with 40.4% of respondents describing ISTOP as "rarely" or "never helpful," and 39.4% describing it as "difficult" or "very difficult" to use. Physicians expressed frustration with the login process, the complexity of querying patients, and the lack of integration with electronic medical records. Only 83.1% knew that ISTOP use is mandated in almost all situations. A minority agreed with this mandate (44.2%); surgeons, males, and those who prescribe controlled substances at least once per week had significantly lower rates of agreement (22.6%, 36.2%, and 33.0%, respectively). The most common reasons for disagreement were: time burden, concerns about helpfulness, potential for under-treatment, and erosion of physician autonomy. Emergency physicians, who are largely exempt from the mandate, were the most likely to believe that ISTOP was helpful, yet the least likely to be registered users. 48.4% of non-emergency physicians reported perfect compliance with the mandate; surgeons and males reported significantly lower rates of perfect compliance (18.2% and 36.8%, respectively).

Conclusions: This study offers a unique window into how one academic medical faculty has experienced New York's mandatory PDMP. Many respondents believe that ISTOP is cumbersome and generally unhelpful. Furthermore, many disagree with, and don't comply with, its mandatory use.