title: Evaluation of Florida physicians' knowledge and attitudes toward accessing the state prescription drug monitoring program as a prescribing tool.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to assess Florida physicians' attitudes and knowledge toward accessing the state's prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Five thousand medical doctors and osteopathic physicians licensed in Florida were randomly selected for a voluntary and anonymous 15-question self-administered survey approved by the Institutional Review Board. Surveys were distributed through U.S. postal service mail. Likert-scale questions were used to assess prior knowledge (1 = none to 5 = excellent) and attitudes toward accessing the PDMP (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study yielded a response rate of 7.8%, 71.5% of whom agreed or strongly agreed that the PDMP is a useful tool. Among participants that have access and answered the PDMP usefulness question, 94.8% agree or strongly agree that it is a useful tool. There were 63 out of 64 physicians (98.4%) who conducted 25 or more searches who agreed or strongly agreed that the PDMP is a useful tool for monitoring patients' controlled substance histories. There were 72.5% of participants with access that answered the "doctor shopping" question who agreed that "doctor shopping" will decrease. Among the 64 most frequent PDMP users, 69.4% agreed or strongly agreed that they have prescribed fewer controlled substances after accessing the PDMP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study revealed that a majority of participants believe that the PDMP is a useful tool for monitoring patients' controlled substance histories. More continuing education programs should be provided to Florida physicians to enhance their knowledge regarding PDMPs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gershman
authors.forename: Jason A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gershman
authors.forename: Andrea D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Fass
authors.forename: Ioana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Popovici
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D005431:Florida; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians; D063487:Prescription Drug Misuse; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs
keywords: Controlled Substances; Electronic-Florida Online Reporting Controlled Substance Evaluation; Physicians; Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs