Please select one of the topics below to view additional information.
A: As a newly licensed prescriber under one of Virginia’s health regulatory boards or a newly licensed pharmacist, your registration for the PMP will be initiated automatically. Every month, each individual who has received licensure for the applicable occupations during the previous month will receive an email requesting them to validate their email address and complete their registration in order to access the PMP. The applicable occupations are as follows: dentist, medicine, nurse practitioner, optometrist, osteopathic medicine, pharmacist, physician assistant, and podiatrist. Each prospective registrant will be sent an email containing instructions on how to complete the registration process.
You may also register at the PMP AWARxE site.
A: PMP Gateway was developed through a partnership between Bamboo Health (previously Appriss Health) and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). PMP Gateway is an electronic hub that allows users of the PMP to obtain PMP data directly from their EHR, PDS, or e-prescribing software without having to complete a separate login to the AWARxE application.
A: PMPi refers to interoperability. PMP Gateway, in addition to enabling integration, also enables the Virginia PMP to be “interoperable” with other state PDMPs, provided that the respective states have a data sharing agreement in place. This allows Virginia PMP users to select any state from among those for which the Virginia PMP has enabled data sharing. Currently the Virginia PMP is interoperable with 38 states, the District of Columbia, the U. S. territory Puerto Rico, and the Military Health System (MHS).
A: If you are utilizing the AWARxE platform, you may choose for each query any or all of the state PDMPs for which Virginia has a data sharing agreement in place. You may also set up a default for a specific group of states that are of interest to you. For example, if you practice in Virginia near the Tennessee border, you may want to see all prescriptions reported to Tennessee’s PDMP. For instructions outlining how to set up a group of default states, please refer to page 48 of the NarxCare User Guide found under the Training tab in the AWARxE application.
If you access the Virginia PMP through an integrated solution, states that are included in each of your patient queries depends on two things. One, the facility responsible for establishing the integrated solution must submit a license request to all states they are interested in pursuing; and two, the state PDMPs that are sought out must approve the license agreement for your specific establishment. If you do not know which state PDMPs participate with your establishment’s integrated PMP solution, you may want to contact the administrator that initiated the license agreements with Bamboo Health or contact Bamboo Health directly.
A: Yes, in certain circumstances. The Code of Virginia requires a prescriber to query the PMP prior to prescribing (1) opioids for treatment exceeding seven days, and (2) prior to prescribing medications (e.g., buprenorphine) for opioid use disorder.
Several of the regulatory boards have their own mandatory use requirements as it relates to the PMP. Please refer to your regulatory board for those requirements, which may be more comprehensive than the requirements outlined by the Virginia Prescription Monitoring Program.
For the requirements of other Boards, please click on the following links:
A: Yes. If you are a prescriber or a pharmacist and you have an active PMP AWARxE account, you may have delegates. The language authorizing the use of delegates can be found on the Virginia Legislative Automated Systems site here. Prescribers and pharmacists may have as many delegates as they need, and delegates are not required to hold a license, registration or certificate from one of Virginia’s health regulatory boards. However, delegates are not authorized access to the PMP in an integrated solution. Delegates may be able to access other state PMP data within the AWARxE application if the other state PMP allows it.
Remember, usernames and passwords for access to the AWARxE application must never be shared! Delegates should not use their supervisor’s account nor should they utilize their own email address to establish a supervisor’s account.
A: If you are in an integrated solution, you must click on the PMP ribbon and view the entire report to get “credit” for querying that patient. If this access provided through integration meets your needs, you may not need a delegate to query on your behalf via their own personal AWARxE login.
A: Each Virginia PMP user must register for their own account, including delegates. Usernames and passwords are not to be shared. You may instruct your delegate to register here . Once they have registered, you must approve each delegate while logged into the Virginia PMP AWARxE application using the “Delegate Management” tab in the dropdown menu under your name in the upper right-hand corner. Users cannot perform activities in AWARxE as your delegate until you approve their access while logged into your personal AWARxE account.
A: It is the responsibility of the “supervisor” to manage all their delegates. In the AWARxE application, log into your account and go to the “Delegate Management” tab in the dropdown menu under your name in the upper right-hand corner. This will bring up a list of all your delegates. Select the delegate who has left your practice and click on the “remove” button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
Note: You will be asked to confirm continued access under your supervision for all your delegates on an annual basis during the month of January. You will be notified by email (your AWARxE username) to log into your account and validate each of your existing users. If you fail to validate any of your delegates, they will no longer be able to submit requests on your behalf.
A: Please register at the following site: https://virginia.pmpaware.net/identities/new
As a delegate, you will need to have your supervisor’s email that they use for their AWARxE application account. You will need to enter this email address as part of the registration process. Because you are registering as a delegate user, your supervisor will need to approve your access through their AWARxE account, authorizing your use on their behalf.
For a downloadable pdf about the delegate role, please click here.
A: The patient PMP report is limited to the last 2 years of data. The purpose for the limit of two years of data is to provide you the most current, relevant dispensation data that reflects the patient’s current risk profile. The Narx scores and Overdose Risk Score (ORS) contained in each report are based on the last 2 years of data. For more information about the Narx scores, click here.
A: Upon querying the PMP, the patient’s prescription history is returned in a NarxCare report. The NarxCare report includes components such as scores, graphs, and full prescription detail. You may click on any prescription to see more detail about that specific dispensation. A buprenorphine treatment locater is available within the NarxCare software application to assist you in finding treatment for your patients that you suspect may have a substance use disorder (SUD).
Medical professionals should use NarxCare scores as indicators to further review details in the patient's prescription history as they attend to patients. NarxCare scores and reports are intended to aid, not replace, medical decision-making. None of the information presented should be used as sole justification for providing or refusing to provide medications.
A: Each patient report includes all medications dispensed to that individual in Schedules II-IV; all Schedule V drugs that require a prescription, all drugs of concern (currently there are no drugs of concern in Virginia), naloxone, and medical cannabis products.
A: “Clinical Alerts” are measures that are displayed for each patient query, provided that the patient meets the threshold indicated. These measures appear to the right of the Overdose Risk Score on each NarxCare report. Any threshold that is met or exceeded will display a score and will be noted by a red exclamation point. The 3 Clinical Alerts are:
For a downloadable pdf about these Clinical Alerts, please click here.
A: No, these facilities are not required to report their dispensing to the Virginia PMP per § 54.1-2522. Reporting exemptions. For more information about the Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations (42 CFR Part II), click here.
A: The Overdose Risk Score (ORS) can be found on each NarxCare report. The ORS is a relative scoring system that represents an individual’s risk of unintentional overdose death by evaluating 70 PMP variables. These scores range from 000 (read as opioid naïve) to 999. The risk of overdose death doubles every 100 points; individuals with scores of 900-999 are 300 times more likely to die than individuals with a score less than 200.
Medical professionals should use NarxCare scores as indicators to further review details in the patient's prescription history as they attend to patients. NarxCare scores and reports are intended to aid, not replace, medical decision-making. None of the information presented should be used as sole justification for providing or refusing to provide medications. For more information about the Overdose Risk Score, go to https://narxcare.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
A: Narx Scores are provided on the patient report for each of the following drug classes: narcotics, sedatives and stimulants. As with the ORS, each of these scores range from 000 – 999. The third digit in each score represents the total number of current active prescriptions. Less than 1% of the population has a score greater than 650. Narx Scores are based on the number of providers, pharmacies, milligram equivalents, and overlapping prescriptions for each patient for the previous two years.
Medical professionals should use NarxCare scores as indicators to further review details in the patient's prescription history as they attend to patients. NarxCare scores and reports are intended to aid, not replace, medical decision-making. None of the information presented should be used as sole justification for providing or refusing to provide medications. For more information about the Narx Scores and the NarxCare methodology, go to https://narxcare.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
A: Dispensers are required to report their dispensations within 24 hours of dispensing or their next business day, whichever comes later. Once processed, prescriptions are available for viewing within patient reports.
A: Yes, in late December 2018 the Virginia PMP began sharing data with the Military Health Systems (MHS), also known as the Defense Health Agency (DHA). The MHS is set up just like another state PMP program, so all you need to do is select MHS as one of your default PMPi states and you will see all the prescriptions for active duty military and their dependents on your PMP reports. In an integrated solution, a license agreement with MHS must be in place to view these prescriptions.
A: If you are submitting a request on a patient that lives close to the border of another state, it is prudent query the prescription data collected in the other state to determine if your patient has obtained prescriptions in that state.
A: First refer to your own “MyRx” report which can be found in the AWARxE platform under the “RxSearch” tab. This report provides a listing of every prescription that has been dispensed up to the past 10 months in reference to your DEA number. This helpful tool can provide the following:
While you may suspect fraudulent activity, most prescriptions attributed to the incorrect prescriber are simply the result of the pharmacy reporting an incorrect DEA number. It is best to call the dispenser and have them pull the original prescription to verify that the information reported to the PMP reflects what is on the original prescription. If the dispenser has reported incorrect information, the facility has five working days to correct the misreported information.
After review of your MyRx report and consulting the appropriate dispenser, if you are concerned that someone may be using your DEA number to obtain prescriptions by fraud, you may want to notify your local law enforcement agency or the Virginia State Police Drug Diversion Unit.
A: AWARxE users as well as integrated users can manage most everything in their own AWARxE account. Integrated users must have a current, active AWARxE account to obtain PMP information within their EHR, PDS, or e-prescribing software. Both AWARxE users and integrated users can update the following information themselves by logging into their AWARxE account and selecting “My Profile” just below their name in the upper right-hand corner:
A: To update your email address, login to your AWARxE account and select “My Profile” from the dropdown menu under your name in the upper right-hand corner of your AWARxE account. NOTE: The email address is your username. It is important to keep your email address current because it serves as a primary means of communication between you and the Virginia PMP program, even if you access the Virginia PMP within an integrated solution (your EHR, PDS, or e-prescribing software).
A: If you cannot remember your password, you may reset your password by following instructions provided by initiating the “reset password” function on the logon screen. To reset your password, you may also click here.
A: Check your “junk” or “spam” folder in your email first. If your email address has changed, or you cannot locate the reset verification password, please email the Virginia PMP staff at pmp@dhp.virginia.gov, or call the Virginia PMP at 804-367-4514 for assistance.
A: Do not create another account. The Virginia PMP does not allow duplicate accounts since each account may contain several unique identifiers (e.g., DEA, NPI). If you require assistance updating your existing account, please contact the Virginia PMP staff at pmp@dhp.virginia.gov
A: There are several things to consider. If you are logged into an integrated solution, you must click on the PMP tab and view the entire report to get “credit” for viewing the PMP report. Simply viewing the NarxCare ribbon does not count as “querying the database”. In addition, if you ask someone to access the PMP on your behalf, this individual must be registered as a delegate for you within the AWARxE platform, they must query through their personal AWARxE account, and they must select you as their supervisor when submitting the request. Usernames and passwords must not be shared.
A: There are a few reasons why you may not have received a prescriber report. First, you must have the DEA number(s) with which you prescribe and a healthcare specialty selected in your AWARxE user profile to receive a report. Second, if you did not prescribe at least one opioid, buprenorphine, sedative, or stimulant prescription during the 6-month period covered in the prescriber report, then you will not receive a prescriber report. Third, users in the role “Medical Resident with Prescriptive Authority” will not receive a prescriber report since they do not have a personal DEA number.
A: When registering at the AWARxE login screen, select the User Role “Medical Resident with Prescriptive Authority”.
A: When registering for your PMP AWARxE account as in intern or resident, enter every personal identifier you have. Your Virginia License Number, beginning in 0116, is required to establish an account. Enter your NPI number if you have one. If your residency site assigns you a suffix to go with the facility DEA number, you may also enter that into your account. Please be certain to enter the DEA suffix in the suffix field only.
A: If you are locating outside of Virginia, a member of the PMP staff can deactivate your account. Bamboo support cannot do this for you. Please contact the PMP at pmp@dhp.virginia.gov
A: No. Once you establish a Virginia PMP account, you never need to establish a new account. While an account can be disabled, the account details can be updated at any time.
AWARxE users and integrated users can update the following information themselves by logging into their AWARxE account and selecting “My Profile” just below their name in the upper right hand corner:
However, a member of the PMP staff must change your User Role. Bamboo support cannot make this change. Please contact our staff directly at pmp@dhp.virginia.gov.
A: A copy of the current Virginia PMP Dispenser Guide can always be found on the PMP website. This guide is updated frequently. Please check periodically to confirm that you are using the most recent version. This version is consistently displayed on the cover of the Virginia PMP Dispenser Guide.
A: The Virginia PMP’s current reporting standard is ASAP 4.2. The Virginia PMP also supports ASAP 4.2a; data submitters may choose to report dispensations using this version. Dispensers of cannabis products must use ASAP 4.2a to submit their dispensations. In addition, ASAP version 5.0 became available for use on March 7, 2023.
A: Resident and non-resident pharmacies, pharmaceutical processors and their dispensaries, and physicians and dentists who dispense directly from their practice must report their dispensing. In addition, veterinarians who dispense covered substances for a course of treatment to last more than seven days from their veterinary establishment must also report that dispensing.
A: First, you need to complete an Account Development Form. Once this is completed, Virginia PMP staff will provide additional information to you via email concerning how to register with Clearinghouse, which is the database where you will upload your dispensing. If you have any questions during this process, please do not hesitate to contact us.
A: You must report your establishment’s dispensing within 24 hours or the next business day, whichever comes later. (§54.1-2521.D)
A: You must report all covered substances to the Virginia PMP. Covered substances, as defined in the Code of Virginia, are as follows:
"Covered substance" means all controlled substances included in Schedules II, III, and IV; controlled substances included in Schedule V for which a prescription is required; naloxone; and all drugs of concern that are required to be reported to the Prescription Monitoring Program, pursuant to this chapter. "Covered substance" also includes cannabis products dispensed by a pharmaceutical processor in Virginia.
A: It is crucial that all data elements are reported to the Virginia PMP and that all elements are reported accurately. Even one error or deletion of a required element can cause requesters to have difficulty obtaining complete, accurate information. For example, if the wrong date of birth is reported, it may cause this prescription to be omitted from a patient’s PMP history on the PMP report. When you receive an email that the information uploaded contained a submission error, you have five days to correct that error. This information can be found in the data reporting manual and reads as follows:
“Any data not accepted due to a substantial number of errors or omissions must be corrected and resubmitted to the vendor within five (5) days of receiving notification of the same.”
A: It is imperative when submitting animal prescriptions that you submit the owner’s name and date of birth, not the animal’s. You must also use the species code “02” indicating that the prescription belongs to an animal and not a human patient. Selection of the “02” species code provides that an animal name must also be submitted in a separate field.
If you are a veterinarian, please also refer to the Board of Veterinary Medicine website. The Practitioner Resources tab has detailed instructions about PMP reporting requirements specifically for veterinarians.
A: In Virginia, a drug of concern is defined as:
"Drug of concern" means any drug or substance, including any controlled substance or other drug or substance, where there has been or there is the potential for abuse and that has been identified by the Board of Pharmacy pursuant to § 54.1-3456.1. As of May 2023, the Virginia Board of Pharmacy does not identify any substance as a “drug of concern”.
A: No. If a practitioner writes a prescription and hands it to a patient or electronically sends it to a pharmacy, this is not dispensing. There is no exchange of a controlled substance or other drug.
"Dispense", as defined by the Board of Pharmacy, means to deliver a drug to an ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing and administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for delivery.
A: A "Recipient", as defined by the Virginia Prescription Monitoring Program, means a person who receives a covered substance from a dispenser and includes the owner of an animal patient.
Prescription Monitoring Program
Email pmp@dhp.virginia.gov
Ashley Carter, Director