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Oregon Health Authority

Healthcare Provider FAQs




Frequently Asked Questions

Prescribers and pharmacists are only allowed to search information regarding patients under your care. The PDMP collects data on Federally Scheduled II, III, and IV controlled substances, State Scheduled drugs including pseudoephedrine, state drugs of interest gabapentin and naloxone. The Oregon PDMP maintains this data for 3 years from pharmacy fill date.

Medical, dental, and pharmacy directors are allowed to search information relevant to evaluating the operations of the entity they oversee and ensuring quality healthcare is being delivered. This may include the prescription histories of the prescribers they oversee and the prescription records of patients at the healthcare entity.

No. System users are prohibited from sharing access information (username and password) with any other individual or entity including medical assistants, staff, and co-workers. Oregon law prohibits PDMP account sharing. Should any violations of username login and password security be identified, the PDMP will revoke the user’s access to the system. Violations may also result in civil penalties. See the Prescribers Access Restrictions advice for additional information.

Yes. Effective January 2014, staff may access the PDMP database on behalf of a provider or pharmacist, but these delegates cannot use your account to access information. Each individual delegate must apply for their own account and logon to the PDMP to access system information using their own unique credentials. Additionally, before conducting patient queries, delegates must designate at least one Supervisor on whose behalf they are accessing information.

All Delegates will use one of two 'Role' designations regardless of personal professional licensure: 'Prescriber Delegate- Unlicensed' or 'Pharmacist Delegate- Unlicensed". Unlicensed indicating not licensed in the State of Oregon to write prescriptions or dispense prescribed medications.

Delegates apply for an account the same as any provider or pharmacist with one additional step.

  • Visit our system site at https://oregon.pmpaware.net.
  • Begin the online application entering your name and email address - if email address is rejected as "invalid" please stop and contact OR PDMP staff by email with a screen shot of the error you have received to pdmp.health@odhsoha.oregon.gov.
  • Upload a photo or copy of current and valid government issued photo identification such as a drivers license or passport.
  • List the e-mail address of at least one registered prescriber or pharmacist for whom you will be delegated to. (*Specific to Delegated staff)

Open the verification email sent to you and follow the included prompt. Once the applicant has completed the necessary steps (filled online form, opened verification e-mail, uploaded ID) PDMP staff will review this request for complete and determine if the applicant can be approved. Delegates must be linked to at least one Supervisor who has approved their link request and may be linked to more than one Supervising prescriber or pharmacist.​

By law providers and pharmacists are responsible for the use or misuse of information by delegates. The Oregon PDMP maintains a record of all use that is available to providers and pharmacists to monitor use by their delegates. Under Oregon Administrative Rule, providers and pharmacists must conduct monthly audits of delegate use to monitor for potential misuse of the system. When a provider or pharmacist learns of any potential unauthorized use of the system or system data by a delegate, he or she must 1) revoke the delegation by unlinking the individual as a delegate, and 2) notify the PDMP of the potential unauthorized use. Notification should be made by email to pdmp.health@odhsoha.oregon.gov documenting the name of the delegate, the date of the unauthorized use and the name of the individual whose PDMP report was accessed.

You may have as many delegates linked to your account as needed. Delegates may be linked to more than one provider. The number of delegates linked to a single supervising prescriber or pharmacist account is not restricted, however each supervising provider/pharmacist is responsible for the use and misuse of the PDMP information by each and every delegate linked to his or her account. Careful consideration should be made when linking delegates to your account. Supervising account holders must conduct monthly audits of delegate use and unlink delegates when access is no longer authorized or if potential unauthorized use is suspected.

As your PDMP accounts belong to the individual user you will want to periodically review those you are linked to, or have linked you, to update your account with each staffing change or staffing need.

For Delegates: You must list at least one prescriber or pharmacist to be delegated to at time of registration. You may link yourself to others once your registration has been approved by visiting your "My Profile" page of the PMPAware screen when you left click your name in the blue menu bar as found along the top right side of the screen. Select "My Profile" and scroll to the bottom of the page where you may add additional email address/user ID's in the “Supervisor” field.

For Prescribers: You may link yourself to one, or more, delegates by visiting the "Delegate Management" menu from the PMPAware Menu bar at the top of the screen. This page will show you those delegates who have requested linkage to your account at which time you will approve or decline their request. You will also be able to add delegates using the email address they registered for the PDMP with at this screen.

Removing a delegate’s link to your account within the PDMP will render a delegates account inoperable if you were the only prescriber/pharmacist listed prohibiting them from accessing patient data until they have been linked to a new prescriber. Removal of a delegate who is linked to others will not disable their account as they will still be able to utilize other linkages.

Annually, in July, all prescribers/pharmacists with delegates are required to re-certify their delegates. Delegates will be placed in a “pending” status until you sign in and under “Delegate Management” approve your profile. This is a Supervisors annual opportunity to update the list of delegates and add, or remove, individuals to reflect their current work needs.

If this is your first time logging on, review the instructions emailed to you when you were approved for an account. Make sure your log in username (the email address you gave at time of registration) is correct and you are entering your password correctly. Please use the password reset function on the log-in screen and be sure to check your e-mail's spam or junk mail folders in the event it does not come to your inbox within 5 minutes of submitting the reset request. If you continue to have difficulty signing into your account, please call the Help Desk at 866-205-1222.

You may reset your own password online using the Password Reset option. Otherwise, you can contact the Help Desk at 866-205-1222. Once you have been verified as the account holder, you will be sent an automated system email notification with a temporary password that must be changed before you can log back onto the system. Please check your spam or junk mail folders for the messaging from PMPAware prior to contacting the Help Desk or PDMP staff.​

You must wait the 20-minute lock-out period. After which you can call the Help Desk at 866-205-1222. Once you have been verified as the account holder, you will be sent an automated system email notification with a temporary password that must be changed before you can log back onto the system.

You can also use the self-service password reset function within the provider portal.​

Yes. If you are a system user with a DEA number, you are able to conduct DEA searches for controlled substance prescriptions dispensed under your DEA number and only your DEA number. You will not be able to see other prescribers’ DEA search histories. Under the MyRx screen you will be able to run a prescribing history report for any active DEA numbers you have provided to the OR PDMP. If you have one or more DEA registration number you would like added to your PDMP profile please email our office at pdmp.health@odhsoha.oregon.gov to let us know what you would like added to your profile.

Make sure the patient information you are entering is correct. You may wish to check the patients insurance card as pharmacies often will use the name and spelling on that card. Also try only using the patients last name, first name, and date of birth in a search.

If your patients last name is hypenated or generational suffix you may want to try the following.

Example name: John Brown-Jones IV

Hyphenated names can be tricky as different pharmacies have different policies how to enter in hyphenated or two word last names. Some omit the hypen using just a space, some use the hyphen character, and others omit the hypen and the sapce. First omit the generational suffix "IV", you may also want to try "Brown-Jones", "Brown Jones", "Brownjones", "Jones".

The PDMP only holds data for a period of 3 years. The PDMP defaults in the search screen to 1 year from the day you are conducting the search. You may choose to manually change the date to any period within the last 3 years of the day.

Patients recieving higher levels of care with skilled nursing and hospice facilities, in-patient settings, adult foster care, and correctional facilities may not have prescriptions within the PDMP. Pharmacies are exempt from reporting these prescriptions as as patients with higher levels of care and no access to at-home supplies of medication are considered less risk for accidental or abuse.​

After you query a patient report you may select "Download PDF" or "Download CSV" to create a static patient report to add to an patients EHR or paper medical record or a CSV file to create an Excel format report for further analysis. This report will then be accessible by selecting the PDF icon that will appear within a small circle along the top of your screen or as a download arrow in the uppermost right menu bar of your web browser. These files may be printed or saved to your desktop.​

Yes. Effective January 1, 2014, providers in California, Idaho, and Washington with licensure similar to Oregon requirements for licensure may apply for an access account. The account application process is the same as any other provider applying for an Oregon PDMP account. See the Scope of Practice Crosswalk Matrix for the list of similar professions in these states.​

First, contact the pharmacy that dispensed the medication to see if the prescription was incorrectly attributed to you. If it is a pharmacy data error, the pharmacy will have to make a correction in their system and upload a record correction to the PDMP. If it is not an error, then it may be potential fraud – see what to do below.​

Pharmacists can:

  • Contact the prescriber to verify whether or not a prescription is valid
  • Refuse to dispense a controlled substance to a customer
  • Notify prescribers if abuse and/or diversion is suspected
  • Contact the Board of Pharmacy to have an alert sent to other pharmacies
  • Contact your local police department to file a report

Prescribers can:

  • Refuse to prescribe a controlled substance to a patient
  • Notify other providers who prescribed to the patient to coordinate care
  • Notify the Drug Enforcement Agency electronically at: https://www.dea.gov/ops/submit.php
  • Contact the Board of Pharmacy​ to have an alert sent in cases of stolen prescription pads, DEA numbers, and the identity theft of a prescriber.
    Please note the Board of Pharmacy will not be able to place alerts on specific patients for any reason.
  • Contact the appropriate overseeing healthcare regulatory board such as the Medical Board if you suspect another provider may have committed unprofessional conduct – e.g., providing treatment that is outside recognized scientific guidelines

See the HIPAA Privacy Rulefor additional information related to permitted uses and disclosures of protected health information – specifically sections related to treatment and public interest and benefit activities.

Data in the PDMP comes from pharmacies, data entry errors at pharmacies can happen. All error corrections need to be directed to the dispensing pharmacy. If you need assistance regarding an error on a patients PDMP report please notify the PDMP by telephone or e-mail. Please have the patients name, DOB, and the prescription information (date/medication/dosage/prescriber) ready. The PDMP will attempt to work with the pharmacy to make corrections and flag the prescription noting the correction. Errors can generally be corrected within 60 days of dispensing, errors greater than 60 days old can be flagged with a correction note.

The most common error found is the spelling of a patients name. Before reporting an spelling error please check your patients government issued photo ID and insurance card to make sure the spelling differs. Many pharmacies are required to fill prescriptions based on the name listed on the insurance card to ensure payment.

Oregon pharmacies can pride themselves on a less than 1% rate of error in data submitted to the PDMP. Pharmacies and the PDMP work dilligently to correct errors prior to being uploaded to the data system.​

Oregon allows prescribers in bordering states, Washington, California, Idaho, and Nevada, access to the PDMP if they meet licensure criteria. Oregon also allows non-resident pharmacists with licensure from the Oregon Board of Pharmacy to dispense to Oregon access to the system.

Oregon healthcare professionals are able to access some other states PDMP systems including Washington and California.

For information on the Washington PDMP please visit: http://www.wapmp.org/practitioner/pharmacist/

For information on the California PDMP please visit: https://oag.ca.gov/cures

As of January 1, 2018, Oregon Legislature has allowed the Oregon PDMP to participate in Interstate data sharing through the Appriss PMPi Gateway.​