Why Monitor?
Ameritox provides data to help you better manage your patients' chronic pain while minimizing practice risk. You can rest easier knowing that your patients are compliant with their prescription regimens. It also helps to protect your practice from patients who may be Doctor shopping or diverting their prescriptions.
Protect Your Patients
Non-compliance is a common situation. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Council on Patient Information and Education:- 60% of all patients cannot identify their own medicines
- 30% - 50% of all patients ignore or compromise instructions on how to take medication
- 14% - 21% of patients never fill their original prescriptions
- Nearly 25% of nursing home admissions are related to improper self-administration of medicine
- As many as 20% of patients take other people’s medicine
Protect Your Practice
Patient self-reporting is notoriously unreliable. Many patients take too little or too much of their prescriptions, or combine them with other medications in a way that could be harmful. Some, unfortunately, use illicit drugs as well. Under certain circumstances, you can be held responsible.The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), along with various state licensing boards, investigates medical practices and meticulously examines records. If these agencies suspect a lack of compliance with state and/or Federal regulations, the result could be an administrative action in the form of a Letter of Admonition, an informal hearing or an "order to show cause." In extreme cases, civil or criminal action could be taken.
The Federal controlled substances laws are designed to work in tandem with state controlled substance laws. The DEA works in close cooperation with state professional licensing boards and state and local law enforcement officials to ensure that pharmaceutical controlled substances are prescribed, administered, and dispensed for legitimate medical purposes in accordance with Federal and state laws. Within this cooperative framework, the majority of investigations into possible violations of controlled substances laws are carried out by state authorities.