PDMP Frequently Asked Questions AWARxE vs. PDMP Clinical Alerts Concerns About Inappropriate Prescribing Delegates Directly Dispensing Drugs of Concern Federal Employee Exemption (IHS, Military, and VA) Gateway PDMP PDMP Registration Number Pregabalin and Gabapentin Prescriber Report Card (Unsolicited Reports) Registration Reporting Reviewing Reviewing Compliance Stolen Prescription Pad Zero Report AWARxE vs. PDMP AWARxE and PDMP are used synonymously to reference the controlled substance prescription database located at alaska.pmpaware.net. AWARxE is the web-based platform provided by our vendor, Bamboo Health, and "PDMP" is the acronym for the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. This database is highly confidential and contains patient prescription information on federally scheduled II - IV controlled substances dispensed in Alaska. (The database does not contain treatment codes or social security numbers.) Clinical Alerts Clinical Alerts for prescriber/dispenser thresholds, daily morphine milligram equivalents (MME), and concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions display as “additional indicators” within the patients report in NarxCare. These indicators are only provided to support informed care. On their own, they are not to be perceived as instruction to limit or deny treatment. Please thoroughly read the disclaimer and explanations within the alerts and read our Clinical Alert FAQs. Concerns About Inappropriate Prescribing If you have concerns about inappropriate prescribing, this should be reported to the Investigations Section by filling out the Online Complaint Form and selecting "Prescription Drug Monitoring Program" from the "Type of Business or Profession Involved" drop-down menu. Delegates Providers can authorize delegates to access the PDMP on their behalf. Only individuals who are licensed by the department, DCCED, under AS 08 are authorized to register as delegates (VA delegates are exempt from this requirement). This includes individuals who hold a license, registration, certification, or permit by DCCED. Certified Medical Assistants (CMA's) are not regulated by DCCED at this time and cannot be authorized as delegates. Delegates create their own account and have separate log-in credentials. During the registration process, delegates list their supervisor(s) in their profile. Once one supervisor has approved their account, their access is eligible for approval by PDMP staff. Any search performed by a delegate is reflected in the supervising provider's account. The delegate/supervisor relationship is currently limited to ten. For registration instructions, please see the Delegate Sign-Up Instructions on the Resources page. Delegate access is renewed annually in the month of March during the Delegate Audit. Directly Dispensing Directly dispensing means you deliver the substance directly to the user. Writing a prescription for a patient to fill at a pharmacy is NOT direct dispensing. Reporting does not apply to you if you directly dispense an outpatient supply of 24-hours or less in practice locations exempt under AS 17.30.200(t). Per AS 11.71.900(8) “dispense” means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or under the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery; “dispenser” means a practitioner who dispenses. Drugs of Concern Alaska does not monitor state scheduled controlled substances or drugs of concern. Alaska statute only requires federally scheduled II – IV controlled substances to be reported. Federal Employee Exemption (IHS, Military, and VA) I am licensed by the State of Alaska and work exclusively for the IHS, Military, or VA as a prescriber. If you are licensed by the State of Alaska under AS 08, you are required to register with the PDMP. I am NOT licensed by the State of Alaska and work exclusively for the IHS, Military, or VA as a prescriber. Alaska Statute, AS 17.30.200(d)(11), allows access to individuals not licensed in Alaska so long as the individual holds a license in another state. The IHS, VA, Military Registration Instructions page located on pdmp.alaska.gov acknowledges there may be a directive from the federal employer requiring PDMP registration. Follow the directive of your employer and when submitting a registration request through alaska.pmpaware.net, select the appropriate user role, “IHS Prescriber” or “IHS Dispenser”. Military personnel should register with the user role of “Military Prescriber” or “Military Dispenser”. If employed with the Veterans Administration; use the user role “VA Prescriber” or “VA Dispenser”. Some federally related user roles require a validation document. See the Registration Instructions & Forms page for more information. What is the IHS Exemption List? The State Medical Board requires providers working at IHS facilities to submit the IHS Pharmacist State Licensure Exemption form per 12 AAC 40.981. This does not apply to providers who are licensed by the State of Alaska and working at an IHS facility; this only applies to physicians or physician assistants who began employment at an IHS facility after August 24, 2016 and are NOT licensed by the State of Alaska. I do not work exclusively for a federal employer; I work both with the IHS, VA, military, or another federal employer and with a non-federal employer. Am I required to register? If you hold an active professional license issued by the State of Alaska, have a DEA registration from any state or practice location, and are working outside of federal employment, you are required to be registered with the PDMP. Since I work as a federal prescriber or dispenser and also as a non-federal prescriber or dispenser, am I permitted to have more than one account? Yes, if you are working in two different capacities, you can have two different accounts as long as you are using two different DEA registration numbers. You will also need to use two different email address to log in with. How do I register with two different accounts? Your account is tied to the email address used to login to the PDMP, and your DEA registration number. Use the email associated with your federal employer for one account and be sure to select the appropriate user role, e.g.: IHS Prescriber. For the other account, use the other email supplied by your non-federal employer or a secure personal email account. Select the appropriate role category, e.g.: Physician (MD, DO). For non-federal employees registering for the first time, please see the steps for initial access to the PDMP. What if I no longer work with a federal employer and my employment is now exclusively with a non-federal employer—what should I do with my IHS, VA, military, or other federal PDMP account? You can change your email address prior to your change in employment to maintain access by going to “My Profile” in the PDMP. If you have already changed employers and no longer have access to your login email address, please contact your licensing board for assistance ( license@alaska.gov). If you will still be working in a non-federal capacity with a professional license issued by AS 08 and have a DEA registration (if a prescriber) or dispense federally scheduled II - IV controlled substances (if a dispenser), you will be required to comply with all registration and/or reporting requirements. Gateway Integration with Statewide Gateway began as a pilot program in September 2022. Gateway provides a streamlined workflow by allowing users to query the PDMP within their clinical workflow, eliminating the need to log into the web-based platform. For more information and to register for integration, please visit the Statewide Gateway Integration page. PDMP The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) is Alaska's solution for monitoring Schedule II-IV controlled substances dispensed in Alaska. This program is designed to improve patient care and to encourage cooperation and coordination among state, local, and federal agencies and other states to reduce the misuse, abuse, and diversion of controlled substances. The controlled substance prescription database “PDMP” is delivered through the AWARxE platform and can be accessed by clicking here: alaska.pmpaware.net. The program is statutorily housed under the Board of Pharmacy in the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development in the Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing. PDMP Registration Number The PDMP registration number was implemented in 2018 and discontinued as of December 23, 2021. Registration in the PDMP is now part of the initial (and renewal) professional license applications and reflected as a “Designation” on the professional license certificate. Pregabalin and Gabapentin Pregabalin and Gabapentin are not reported to the PDMP in Alaska. Pregabalin is a federally scheduled V controlled substance and Gabapentin is not scheduled. Alaska statute only requires federally scheduled II – IV controlled substances to be reported. Prior to August 18, 2023 the PDMP did not reject these medications if they were reported; however the settings have been modified and the PDMP no longer accepts any reports of federally scheduled V or non-scheduled prescriptions. Prescriber Report Card (Unsolicited Reports) A prescriber "report card" details and compares a practitioner's prescribing practices with other practitioners with a similar specialty. AS 17.30.200(s) authorizes the board to send the reports which started on December 7, 2017. Reports are sent quarterly to the registered email address in the users PDMP account. Registered providers must have written at least one opioid, stimulant, or sedative prescription during the prior six-month period to receive a report card. Providers can review their reports at any time through PDMP AWARxE by navigating to: Menu → RxSearch → Prescriber Report. Reports are available for the last year, however only the current report is interactive. For more information, including how to interpret the report card data, please see the Prescriber Report Card User Guide on the Resources page. If your specialty is different from the primary health care specialty in which you are currently practicing, you can correct your specialty through AWARxE under the "My Profile" tab under your name in the upper right corner of the screen. You may also contact the PDMP administrator to update this or other report card errors at: akpdmp@alaska.gov. Registration Mandatory registration with the Alaska PDMP applies to all practitioners who hold an active Alaska professional license and DEA registration from any state or practice location, even if they are not practicing or planning to dispense in Alaska. APRN's must also have Controlled Substance Prescriptive Authority issued by the Alaska Board of Nursing. All Alaska licensed pharmacists dispensing federally scheduled II - IV controlled substances in the state are required to register. If exclusively employed by a federal agency (IHS, Military, or VA) and NOT licensed in by the State of Alaska, please see the section on Federal Employee Exemption and visit the Use and Exemption page. To create an account, visit Alaska.PMPAware.Net and be sure to validate your email by clicking on the link sent from the no-reply@alaska.PMPAWARE.net email address. For more information, see instructions on the Registration Instructions & Forms page. Reporting The pharmacist-in-charge of a pharmacy is required to report prescription information for all federally scheduled II, III, or IV controlled substances dispensed; however, a pharmacist must report dispensation data if the pharmacist-in-charge is absent. Practitioners who directly dispense federally scheduled II - IV prescriptions are also required to report. Exemptions to reporting can be found in AS 17.30.200(t). For pharmacies or prescribing practitioners NOT dispensing or distributing controlled substance prescriptions at all, the daily zero reporting requirement does not apply. If the reporting requirement applies to you, information must be reported daily, excluding weekends and state holidays. If no controlled substances were dispensed on a day, a “zero report” must be submitted. A video tutorial can be found on the PDMP Resources page. Reviewing Alaska-licensed practitioners prescribing, administering, or directly dispensing a federally scheduled II or III controlled substance are required to review a patient's prescription information. Alaska-licensed pharmacists are not required to review patient prescription information but may elect to do so. Situational and supply-day exemptions may apply; see the list of exemptions on the Use and Exemption page. If exclusively employed by a federal agency (IHS, VA, military) and NOT licensed by the State of Alaska, please see the section on Federal Employee Exemptions and visit the exemptions page. Reviewing Compliance Providers can view their own compliance within AWARxE by navigating to the 'Menu' tab, then selecting 'Mandatory Use' under the 'Data' tab. Alternatively, you may go to the 'Menu' tab, then 'Rx Search, and then 'MyRx'. Please note there may be situations in which a practitioner is exempt from reviewing the PDMP, but the dispensation and exemption from querying may still appear as a missed query. These include the following: Administering to an inpatient admitted to a healthcare facility (exempt by AS 17.30.200(k)) Administering at the scene of an emergency, in an ambulance, or in an emergency department (exempt by AS 17.30.200(k)(4)(A)(iii)) Dispensing, prescribing, or administering at a hospice or nursing home that has an inpatient pharmacy (AS 17.30.200(k)(4)(A)(iv)) Dispensing, prescribing, or administering immediately before, during, or within the first 48 hours after surgery or a medical procedure (AS 17.30.200(k)) Writing a non-refillable prescription for a controlled substance in a quantity intended to last for not more than three days (AS 17.30.200(k)(4)(B)) Stolen Prescription Pad Report stolen prescription pads to local law enforcement and the PDMP administrator at akpdmp@alaska.gov. Zero Report A “Zero Report” is the industry term for no controlled substances dispensed on a given day. The zero report is important as it serves as the confirmation that no dispensations occurred that day, as opposed to no report which could indicate information is late or missing. A video tutorial can be found on the Resources page. Zero Reports can only be submitted through ClearingHouse. Return to Top