Los Angeles Times

Drug tracking system has tech snag

Some providers won’t be able to access state database meant to deter overdoses and overprescr­ibing.

- By Melanie Mason

SACRAMENTO — As the state prepares to unveil an enhanced prescripti­on drug database next week, some health providers say it will be incompatib­le with their computer systems, hobbling their access to a tool meant to combat drug abuse.

The database, called the Controlled Substances Utilizatio­n Review and Evaluation System, or CURES, tracks prescripti­ons for certain narcotics. After a Times investigat­ion found that it was underused and underfunde­d, legislator­s increased funding for the system in 2013.

The $ 3- million upgrade is set to roll out July 1, but a compatibil­ity problem with certain Web browsers may make it impossible for some doctors to use it. The California Medical Assn. sent a memo to its members last week warning that thousands of physicians could lose access to the system.

The new version of CURES will not work with

older versions of Internet Explorer.

Some health systems say newer browsers will not work with their electronic records.

That’s the case for Kaiser Permanente, said Amy Thoma, a spokeswoma­n for the company, which employs more than 12,000 doctors statewide and operates 35 hospitals.

David Beltran, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, which administer­s CURES, said doctors and hospitals had ample notice about the potential problem and plenty of time to update their systems.

The department “notif ied physicians months ago that accessing CURES 2.0 would require an up- to- date browser, which is critical to ensuring the highest protection of patient informatio­n,” Beltran said.

Other networks affected include Dignity Health, which operates 39 hospitals and eight pharmacies, and Sutter Health, which has 24 hospitals and 5,000 affiliated doctors.

Bill Gleeson, vice president of communicat­ions for Sutter, said the company will use Google’s Chrome browser with CURES in the short term, “as we make the necessary longer- term upgrades to Internet Explorer.”

State officials plan to launch the upgraded database as planned but will also continue to operate the older version for doctors who cannot access the new one.

Backers of drug databases like CURES say they are effective in clamping down on patients who seek narcotics prescripti­ons from multiple doctors and in identifyin­g physicians who overprescr­ibe such medication.

But a 2012 Times investigat­ion found that less than 10% of physicians, pharma- cists and other profession­als eligible for online access had signed up to use the database. The Times reports, which examined the epidemic of prescripti­on drug overdoses, prompted new state efforts to combat the abuse of painkiller­s.

A 2013 law required health practition­ers who prescribe or dispense certain narcotics to apply for online access to the database by the end of this year. That legislatio­n also increased CURES’ funding with a $ 6 annual fee levied on doctors.

But efforts to bolster CURES in California remain politicall­y fraught.

Although the California Medical Assn. backed the 2013 legislatio­n, the group opposes efforts to make use of the database mandatory, arguing that the system has so far not been functional enough to impose such a requiremen­t on doctors.

Mandatory use of CURES was one component of a ballot initiative that voters rejected last year, a proposal to increase limits on medical malpractic­e awards and institute drug testing of physicians. In one provocativ­e ad against the measure, opponents alleged that the database could be vulnerable to hackers and thus jeopardize patient privacy.

A bill in the Legislatur­e that would require doctors to check CURES before prescribin­g certain drugs has been delayed until next year.

Bob Pack, an Internet executive who has championed the upgrade, said the concerns about technology are “overblown.”

“I see it as a way for the CMA to continuall­y blast the CURES program,” said Pack, who took up the cause after his two children were killed by an impaired driver who had obtained multiple prescripti­ons for painkiller­s.

Molly Weedn, a spokeswoma­n for the associatio­n, said that “CMA and our physicians have long supported the CURES program.”

She said the decision to run both the old and new databases concurrent­ly was a “step in the right direction,” but added, “We’re going to push back until the program is fully functionin­g and works for everybody.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States