DHS-MEDICAID-PRESCRIBER ED

Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Human Services to develop in collaboration with an academic institution a program designed to provide prescribing physicians under the medical assistance program with an evidence-based, non-commercial source of the latest objective information about pharmaceuticals. Provides that the prescriber education program shall consist of a web-based curriculum and an academic educator outreach and shall contract with clinical pharmacists to provide scheduled visits with prescribing physicians to update them on the latest research concerning medication usage and new updates on disease states in an unbiased manner. Provides that education provided under the prescriber education program shall include disease-based educational modules on the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain, diabetes, hypertension, and other specified diseases and that such modules shall be reviewed and updated on an annual or as-needed basis. Provides that additional resources provided under the prescribing education program shall include, but not be limited to: (i) a drug information response center available to prescribing physicians that provides thorough and timely in-depth answers to any questions a prescribing physician may have within 48 hours after a question is received; and (ii) information on drug utilization trends within individual and group practices. House Floor Amendment No. 1 Provides that the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (rather than the Department of Human Services) shall develop, in collaboration with a public university that has a Doctor of Pharmacy Professional Program and is located in a county with a population of more than 3,000,000 (rather than in collaboration with an academic institution), a program designed to provide prescribing physicians under the medical assistance program with an evidence-based, non-commercial source of the latest objective information about pharmaceuticals.