(CARBONDALE, IL) — The Jackson County Health Department will be launching an opioid prevention program in the new year. The program will encourage doctors to use the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program. It allows doctors to share information about patients who have prescriptions for opioid painkillers. They can also check a patient’s history online before writing a prescription. This way they can look for signs of opioid abuse or doctor shopping. Dentists and veterinarians are also encouraged to sign up for the program since they prescribe opioids too. The health department has already scheduled some meetings with providers in the county and will be scheduling more once the program is launched in January.