MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) plans to develop an interconnected communications hub for state prescription monitoring programs (PMPs).

NABP said this week that the interconnect hub, which is slated to be operational in nine months, comes in response to a need by PMP administrators for a way to facilitate the sharing and exchanging of data among PMP systems.

Designed to help safeguard public health, the hub will be made accessible to states at little or no cost, the association reported.

Once the system is deployed, authorized clients will log in to their PMP as usual and can make requests for information from other participating PMPs through the hub 24 hours a day, according to NABP. The hub will facilitate the completion of the data request so that clients can quickly obtain the data they need to identify possible prescription drug abuse and diversion. In addition, the solution will enforce each program’s access rules to ensure only authorized and appropriate access to information.

NABP noted that the interconnect hub will retain no prescription data, and all PMP data will remain resident with the PMP. The hub will be housed in highly secure facilities to maintain the confidentiality of this sensitive information.

The development of the interconnect hub is supported by a 2009 NABP task force, which studied PMPs and recommended that the association work with the state boards of pharmacy, PMPs, pharmacists, prescribers and other stakeholders to ensure that PMPs assist pharmacists and prescribers in assessing patient information and providing appropriate patient care, as well as help law enforcement efforts to identify and act in instances of drug abuse and diversion.