MEETING NOTICE

Med-QUEST Drug Use Review (DUR) Board

Wednesday, August 12, 2026, 12 Noon

Microsoft Teams Meeting Information below

The public may also attend the meeting at Kakuhihewa Building, 601 Kamokila Blvd., Kapolei, Hawaii, Conference Room 511A, where an audiovisual connection will be provided for the public to view and participate in the meeting.

AGENDA 

I.                    Call to Order; Roll Call and Determination of Quorum

II.                  Approval of Minutes from the May 13, 2026, DUR Board Meeting

III.                Old business

 A.      Board members’ extension of terms approved; Vacant pharmacist member, searching for pharmacist with neighbor island community pharmacy background

 B.      Update on DUR Board member bylaws with practicing dentist member

 C.      U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Annual DUR Survey

1.      Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) updates

2.      Retrospective DUR program

 D.     Dental Program

1.      Outlier controlled substance prescriber

 E.      State of Hawaii Organ and Tissue Transplant program

1.      Expensive drug claims review

IV.                New Business

 A.      Educational Outreach Quarterly FFS provider bulletin

1.      Resources for pain management prescribing considerations: 

a.      The CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain — United States, 2022 | MMWR https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/rr/rr7103a1.htm provides CDC's most updated recommendations for clinicians providing pain care for outpatients aged 18 years and over.  The guidance addresses four areas:  1) determining whether to initiate opioids for pain, 2) selecting opioids and determining opioid dosages, 3) deciding duration of initial opioid prescription and conducting follow-up, and 4) assessing risk and addressing potential harms of opioid use.

b.      Acute Dental Pain Management Guideline | American Dental Association https://www.ada.org/resources/research/science/evidence-based-dental-research/pain-management-guideline provides ADA's most updated guidelines on acute dental pain management for adults and adolescents (2024) and pediatrics (2023), including evidence-based resources for the clinician.

2.      Safe opioid prescribing practices:  

a.      https://hawaii.pmpaware.net Under the Federal SUPPORT Act (Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act), Medicaid providers must check, before prescribing a controlled substance, the prescription drug history of a Medicaid beneficiary in the Hawaii PDMP (AKA HI PMP AWARxE)

b.      https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/38481/cdc_38481_DS1.pdf Download URL for CDC guidelines:  Calculating Total Daily Dose of Opioids for Safer Dosage

c.       CDC Updated 2022 Morphine Milligram Equivalents Calculator - GlobalRPH https://globalrph.com/medcalcs/morphine-milligram-equivalents-calculator/ calculator provides estimates of equianalgesic dose of morphine for common opioids

3.      Naloxone nasal:

a.      Naloxone nasal is also available at various locations across the state of Hawaii through vending machines, at no charge to the public.  Check out Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center website at https://www.hhhrc.org for more information on vending machine locations and other information on naloxone nasal accessibility and usage. 

4.      Safe disposal of unwanted medications

a.      Take Back Program at https://manoa.hawaii.edu/c3od2a/take-back/ shows locations on every island to drop off unneeded or found medications

b.      If a medication take-back program is not available nearby, go to https://www.fda.gov/drugs/safe-disposal-medicines/disposal-unused-medicines-what-you-should-know for medications that can be safely flushed down the toilet.  This list includes a small number of medicines that may be especially harmful and, in some cases, fatal with just one dose if they are consumed by pets or by someone other than the person for whom the medicine was prescribed.

c.       If the medication is not on the “Flush list”, mix with dirt, cat litter, or coffee grounds.  Then seal in a container or plastic bag and throw away in your household rubbish.

 B.      Hepatitis C treatment guidelines and health plan requirements

 C.      Potential effects of utilization management from H.R. 1 Act community engagement requirements

V.                  Public Testimony regarding topics pertinent to the FFS DUR Board, limited to 3 minutes per speaker

VI.                Next meeting will  be held on Wednesday, November 18, 2026

VII.              Adjourn

All interested persons shall have an opportunity to submit data, views, or arguments, in writing, and an opportunity to present oral testimony to any agenda item.  Any person providing oral testimony is requested to submit the remarks, or a summary of the remarks, in writing to the board, no later than 48 hours prior to the meeting and shall state the item on which the testimony is being presented.  The board provides for oral testimony of three minutes.

Written testimony may be emailed to MQDDURBoard@dhs.hawaii.gov or sent by U.S. Postal Mail to Department of Human Services, Med-QUEST Division, Attn:  Drug Use Review Board, P.O. Box 700190, Kapolei, HI 96709-0190.

NOTICE:  Written testimony submitted will be made public record and any contact information contained therein will be available for public inspection and copying.  Please do not include information in your testimony that you do not want to be disclosed to the public.

NOTE:  If you need auxiliary aid/service or other accommodation due to disability or limited English proficiency, please contact:  Med-QUEST Division at (808) 692-8124 (voice); or 711 (TTY) or by email at MQDDURBoard@dhs.hawaii.gov by 12:00 p.m. on Monday, August 10, 2026. Requests made as early as possible have a greater chance of being fulfilled due to a limited number of communication access providers.

TEAMS VIRTUAL MEETING INFORMATION

Topic:               Med-QUEST DUR Board Meeting

Date/Time:      August 12, 2026, 12:00 noon (HST)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/61990eac-11d3-490d-99d9-475433cd67c1@3847dec6-63b2-43f9-a6d0-58a40aaa1a10

 *Note, virtual meeting will be hosted via Teams Application