H. R. 6—169 
programs, conducting activities, and awarding grants that advance 
the education and awareness of— 
‘‘(1) the public, including patients and consumers— 
‘‘(A) generally; and 
‘‘(B) regarding such risks related to unused opioids 
and the dispensing options under section 309(f) of the Con-
trolled Substances Act, as applicable; and 
‘‘(2) providers, which may include— 
‘‘(A) providing for continuing education on appropriate 
prescribing practices; 
‘‘(B) education related to applicable State or local pre-
scriber limit laws, information on the use of non-addictive 
alternatives for pain management, and the use of overdose 
reversal drugs, as appropriate; 
‘‘(C) disseminating and improving the use of evidence- 
based opioid prescribing guidelines across relevant health 
care settings, as appropriate, and updating guidelines as 
necessary; 
‘‘(D) implementing strategies, such as best practices, 
to encourage and facilitate the use of prescriber guidelines, 
in accordance with State and local law; 
‘‘(E) disseminating information to providers about pre-
scribing options for controlled substances, including such 
options under section 309(f) of the Controlled Substances 
Act, as applicable; and 
‘‘(F) disseminating information, as appropriate, on the 
National Pain Strategy developed by or in consultation 
with the Assistant Secretary for Health; and 
‘‘(3) other appropriate entities.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘opioid abuse’’ each place such term 
appears and inserting ‘‘opioid misuse and abuse’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘safe disposal of 
prescription medications and other’’ and inserting ‘‘non- 
addictive treatment options, safe disposal options for 
prescription medications, and other applicable’’. 
SEC. 7162. PRESCRIPTION DRUG MONITORING PROGRAM. 
Section 399O of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g– 
3) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 399O. PRESCRIPTION DRUG MONITORING PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, the Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, in coordination with the heads of other departments 
and agencies as appropriate, shall support States or localities 
for the purpose of improving the efficiency and use of PDMPs, 
including— 
‘‘(A) establishment and implementation of a PDMP; 
‘‘(B) maintenance of a PDMP; 
‘‘(C) improvements to a PDMP by— 
‘‘(i) enhancing functional components to work 
toward— 
‘‘(I) universal use of PDMPs among providers 
and their delegates, to the extent that State laws 
allow;
H. R. 6—170 
‘‘(II) more timely inclusion of data within a 
PDMP; 
‘‘(III) active management of the PDMP, in part 
by sending proactive or unsolicited reports to pro-
viders to inform prescribing; and 
‘‘(IV) ensuring the highest level of ease in use 
of and access to PDMPs by providers and their 
delegates, to the extent that State laws allow; 
‘‘(ii) in consultation with the Office of the National 
Coordinator 
for 
Health 
Information 
Technology, 
improving the intrastate interoperability of PDMPs 
by— 
‘‘(I) making PDMPs more actionable by inte-
grating PDMPs within electronic health records 
and health information technology infrastructure; 
and 
‘‘(II) linking PDMP data to other data systems 
within the State, including— 
‘‘(aa) the data of pharmacy benefit man-
agers, medical examiners and coroners, and 
the State’s Medicaid program; 
‘‘(bb) worker’s compensation data; and 
‘‘(cc) prescribing data of providers of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian 
Health Service within the State; 
‘‘(iii) in consultation with the Office of the National 
Coordinator 
for 
Health 
Information 
Technology, 
improving the interstate interoperability of PDMPs 
through— 
‘‘(I) sharing of dispensing data in near-real 
time across State lines; and 
‘‘(II) integration of automated queries for 
multistate PDMP data and analytics into clinical 
workflow to improve the use of such data and 
analytics by practitioners and dispensers; or 
‘‘(iv) improving the ability to include treatment 
availability resources and referral capabilities within 
the PDMP. 
‘‘(2) LEGISLATION.—As a condition on the receipt of support 
under this section, the Secretary shall require a State or locality 
to demonstrate that it has enacted legislation or regulations— 
‘‘(A) to provide for the implementation of the PDMP; 
and 
‘‘(B) to permit the imposition of appropriate penalties 
for the unauthorized use and disclosure of information 
maintained by the PDMP. 
‘‘(b) PDMP STRATEGIES.—The Secretary shall encourage a State 
or locality, in establishing, improving, or maintaining a PDMP, 
to implement strategies that improve— 
‘‘(1) the reporting of dispensing in the State or locality 
of a controlled substance to an ultimate user so the reporting 
occurs not later than 24 hours after the dispensing event; 
‘‘(2) the consultation of the PDMP by each prescribing 
practitioner, or their designee, in the State or locality before 
initiating treatment with a controlled substance, or any sub-
stance as required by the State to be reported to the PDMP,
H. R. 6—171 
and over the course of ongoing treatment for each prescribing 
event; 
‘‘(3) the consultation of the PDMP before dispensing a 
controlled substance, or any substance as required by the State 
to be reported to the PDMP; 
‘‘(4) the proactive notification to a practitioner when pat-
terns indicative of controlled substance misuse by a patient, 
including opioid misuse, are detected; 
‘‘(5) the availability of data in the PDMP to other States, 
as allowable under State law; and 
‘‘(6) the availability of nonidentifiable information to the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for surveillance, 
epidemiology, statistical research, or educational purposes. 
‘‘(c) DRUG MISUSE AND ABUSE.—In consultation with practi-
tioners, dispensers, and other relevant and interested stakeholders, 
a State receiving support under this section— 
‘‘(1) shall establish a program to notify practitioners and 
dispensers of information that will help to identify and prevent 
the unlawful diversion or misuse of controlled substances; 
‘‘(2) may, to the extent permitted under State law, notify 
the appropriate authorities responsible for carrying out drug 
diversion investigations if the State determines that informa-
tion in the PDMP maintained by the State indicates an unlaw-
ful diversion or abuse of a controlled substance; 
‘‘(3) may conduct analyses of controlled substance program 
data for purposes of providing appropriate State agencies with 
aggregate reports based on such analyses in as close to real- 
time as practicable, regarding prescription patterns flagged 
as potentially presenting a risk of misuse, abuse, addiction, 
overdose, and other aggregate information, as appropriate and 
in compliance with applicable Federal and State laws and pro-
vided that such reports shall not include protected health 
information; and 
‘‘(4) may access information about prescriptions, such as 
claims data, to ensure that such prescribing and dispensing 
history is updated in as close to real-time as practicable, in 
compliance with applicable Federal and State laws and provided 
that such information shall not include protected health 
information. 
‘‘(d) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—As a condition on receipt 
of support under this section, the State shall report on interoper-
ability with PDMPs of other States and Federal agencies, where 
appropriate, intrastate interoperability with health information 
technology systems such as electronic health records, health 
information exchanges, and e-prescribing, where appropriate, and 
whether or not the State provides automatic, up-to-date, or daily 
information about a patient when a practitioner (or the designee 
of a practitioner, where permitted) requests information about such 
patient. 
‘‘(e) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—A State receiving support 
under this section shall provide the Secretary with aggregate non-
identifiable information, as permitted by State law, to enable the 
Secretary— 
‘‘(1) to evaluate the success of the State’s program in 
achieving the purpose described in subsection (a); or 
‘‘(2) to prepare and submit to the Congress the report 
required by subsection (i)(2).
H. R. 6—172 
‘‘(f) EDUCATION AND ACCESS TO THE MONITORING SYSTEM.— 
A State receiving support under this section shall take steps to— 
‘‘(1) facilitate prescribers and dispensers, and their dele-
gates, as permitted by State law, to use the PDMP, to the 
extent practicable; and 
‘‘(2) educate prescribers and dispensers, and their delegates 
on the benefits of the use of PDMPs. 
‘‘(g) ELECTRONIC FORMAT.—The Secretary may issue guidelines 
specifying a uniform electronic format for the reporting, sharing, 
and disclosure of information pursuant to PDMPs. To the extent 
possible, such guidelines shall be consistent with standards recog-
nized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Informa-
tion Technology. 
‘‘(h) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 
‘‘(1) FUNCTIONS OTHERWISE AUTHORIZED BY LAW.—Nothing 
in this section shall be construed to restrict the ability of 
any authority, including any local, State, or Federal law enforce-
ment, narcotics control, licensure, disciplinary, or program 
authority, to perform functions otherwise authorized by law. 
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in this 
section shall be construed as preempting any State from 
imposing any additional privacy protections. 
‘‘(3) FEDERAL PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to supersede any Federal privacy or 
confidentiality requirement, including the regulations promul-
gated under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability 
and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–191; 110 Stat. 
2033) and section 543 of this Act. 
‘‘(4) NO FEDERAL PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to create a Federal private 
cause of action. 
‘‘(i) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 
of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) complete a study that— 
‘‘(A) determines the progress of grantees in establishing 
and implementing PDMPs consistent with this section; 
‘‘(B) provides an analysis of the extent to which the 
operation of PDMPs has— 
‘‘(i) reduced inappropriate use, abuse, diversion of, 
and overdose with, controlled substances; 
‘‘(ii) established or strengthened initiatives to 
ensure linkages to substance use disorder treatment 
services; or 
‘‘(iii) affected patient access to appropriate care 
in States operating PDMPs; 
‘‘(C) determine the progress of grantees in achieving 
interstate interoperability and intrastate interoperability 
of PDMPs, including an assessment of technical, legal, 
and financial barriers to such progress and recommenda-
tions for addressing these barriers; 
‘‘(D) determines the progress of grantees in imple-
menting near real-time electronic PDMPs; 
‘‘(E) provides an analysis of the privacy protections 
in place for the information reported to the PDMP in each 
State or locality receiving support under this section and