Virginia’s Prescription Monitoring Program was established in 2006 and is used to track Schedule II-V controlled substances, naloxone, and medical cannabis dispensed in the Commonwealth. The primary purpose of the PMP is to promote safe prescribing and dispensing practices for covered substances by providing timely and essential information to healthcare providers. Both the Code of Virginia (Chapter 25.2 of Title 54.1) and the Virginia Administrative Code (18VAC76-20) contain laws and regulations applicable to the PMP.

On average, 1.2 million prescriptions are reported to the PMP monthly. There are approximately 72,000 providers and dispensers registered to use the PMP and over 57 million requests for individual patient prescription history in the last calendar year. In addition to the utility for healthcare providers, the data collected can be useful in identifying unusual patterns of prescribing and dispensing for review by the applicable regulatory board. Investigative findings by regulatory boards and analysis methodologies are regularly reviewed and refined. Notably, 18% of cases initiated through this process resulted in a violation. “Identifying unusual patterns of prescribing and dispensing," beginning on page 3, describes this process and case findings in depth.