As of Sept. 1, the Texas State Board of Pharmacy offers statewide integration of the Texas Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) and NarxCare into electronic health records (EHR) and pharmacy management systems for two years at no cost to physicians.
Managed by the pharmacy board, the PMP collects and monitors outpatient prescription data and patient prescription history for all schedule II, III, IV, and V controlled substances. Per a 2019 mandate, physicians must check the PMP before prescribing opioids, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, or carisoprodol. Failing to comply with the mandate could result in remedial or disciplinary action.
All Texas medical professionals – including Texas pharmacies, project managers, physicians and those to whom they delegate medical activities, such as nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and physician assistants – now have access to Bamboo Health's Gateway and NarxCare.
Bamboo Health will discontinue invoicing practices that previously paid licensing fees for Texas PMP Gateway integration or NarxCare for the two-year duration of statewide PMP Gateway and NarxCare funding.
Austin internist and Texas Medical Association Board of Trustees member Tony Aventa, MD, says integration is a significant win for physicians, especially those who treat patients at risk of overdose or adverse side effects.
"It was certainly a burden for several practices who couldn't integrate without state funding," he said. "Funding from the state is imperative to ensure proper use of the system and effective patient care."
Bamboo Health, the program’s private contractor, provides access to a patient’s prescription information directly through EHR systems. Previously, physicians and pharmacists had to log in to state websites to retrieve a patient’s prescription history for controlled substances. Physicians can now access that information more easily through the Bamboo Health Gateway. NarxCare, a scoring tool, is available within the state's PMP web portal and integrated EHRs, pharmacy management systems, and e-prescribing tools.
Previously, the state covered licensing fees for integrated access in a physician’s EHR for two years beginning in 2019. Starting Sept. 1, 2021, however, the state ceased covering that fee.
With state funding no longer available, Bamboo Health invoiced practices for the annual licensing fee required to access the PMP through an EHR. If physicians chose not to integrate, they had to log into the state's PMP web portal to check a patient's prescribing history.
TMA petitioned the Texas Legislature to rescind the decision for this budget period, arguing that the lack of EHR integration created additional administrative burden to fulfill the state mandate.
Per Bamboo Health, integration saves 4.2 minutes per patient encounter and supports medical professionals in meeting mandate requirements.
"The importance of electronic health record integration just can't be overstated," Dr. Aventa said. "Before the state provided free integration, physicians had to pay to simplify their workflow. Now, physicians can oversee patient care effectively without burdensome costs."
Per the pharmacy board, physicians should complete the following steps to request integration with the Texas PMP:
For integration related questions, please email Bamboo Health.
For PMP resources, including a comprehensive list of EHR vendors currently integrated with NarxCare and the PMP database, visit TMA's PMP webpage.
Alisa Pierce
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1469