For controlled drugs, most states are going toward a system where some health professionals can access the Dept of Justice system records to find out if a controlled drug has been filled. Some states are more cumbersome than others - in CA its pretty easy - in NY its non-existant. 27 states have adopted this under a federal grant - the rest are in the process of developing methods to allow greater dissemination of information, but right now...the methods they use are up to them.
As pharmacists in CA we can see what CII & III's have been filled for a particular patient name & by what prescriber. For prescribers, they can see what pts have filled CII & III's by their name. This is to be able to track for diversion.
Just to clarify....the triplicates which were referred to which CA no longer uses never had a copy mailed back to the prescriber. One copy was kept with the prescriber after the rx was written, the other two copies the pt took to the pharmacy. After being filled, the original was kept at the pharmacy & monthly, a copy was sent to the Dept of Justice.
Now, all CII's & III's rx fill info is sent in real time to the Dept of Justice by every pharmacy in CA, which makes the third copy superfluous. In additon, the physician's notes indicate what medications were prescribed, so again - just superfluous paper.
