Effect of a "pill mill" law on opioid prescribing and utilization: The case of Texas.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Lyapustina T
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4976392 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Effect of a "pill mill" law on opioid prescribing and utilization: The case of Texas.
Lyapustina Tatyana T Rutkow Lainie L Chang Hsien-Yen HY Daubresse Matthew M Ramji Alim F AF Faul Mark M Stuart Elizabeth A EA Alexander G Caleb GC
Drug and alcohol dependence 20151231
<h4>Background</h4>States have attempted to reduce prescription opioid abuse through strengthening the regulation of pain management clinics; however, the effect of such measures remains unclear. We quantified the impact of Texas's September 2010 "pill mill" law on opioid prescribing and utilization.<h4>Methods</h4>We used the IMS Health LRx LifeLink database to examine anonymized, patient-level pharmacy claims for a closed cohort of individuals filling prescription opioids in Texas between Sept ...[more]
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Project description:The opioid epidemic has been fueled by prescribing unnecessary quantities of opioid pills for postoperative use. While evidence mounts that postoperative opioids can be reduced or eliminated, implementing such changes within various institutions can be met with many barriers to adoption. To address excess opioid prescribing within our institutions, we applied a plan-do-study-act (PDSA)-like quality improvement strategy to assess local opioid prescribing and use, modify our institutional protocols, and assess the impacts of the change. The opioid epidemic has been fueled by prescribing unnecessary quantities of opioid pills for postoperative use. While evidence mounts that postoperative opioids can be reduced or eliminated, implementing such changes within various institutions can be met with many barriers to adoption. We describe our approach, findings, and lessons learned from our quality improvement approach. We prospectively recorded home pain pill usage after robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) and robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) at two academic institutions from July 2016 to July 2019. Patients prospectively recorded their home pain pill use on a take-home log. Other factors, including numeric pain rating scale on the day of discharge, were extracted from patient records. We analyzed our data and modified opioid prescription protocols to meet the reported use data of 80% of patients. We continued collecting data after the protocol change. We also used our prospectively collected data to assess the accuracy of a retrospective phone survey designed to measure postdischarge opioid use. Our primary outcomes were the proportion of patients taking zero opioid pills postdischarge, median pills taken after discharge and the number of excess pills prescribed but not taken. We compared these outcomes before and after protocol change. A total of 266 patients (193 RALP, 73 RAPN) were included. Reducing the standard number of prescribed pills did not increase the percentage of patients taking zero pills postdischarge in either group (RALP: 47% vs. 41%; RAPN 48% vs. 34%). The patients in either group reporting postoperative Day 1 pain score of 0 or 1 were much more likely to use zero postdischarge opioid pills. Our reduction in prescribing protocol resulted in an estimated reduction in excess pills from 1555 excess pills in the prior protocol to just 155 excess pills in the new protocol. Our PDSA-like approach led to an acceptable protocol revision resulting in significant reductions in excess pills released into the community. Reducing the quantity of opioids prescribed postoperatively does not increase the percentage of patients taking zero pills postdischarge. To eliminate opioid use may require no-opioid pathways. Our approach can be used in implementing zero opioid discharge plans and can be applied to opioid reduction interventions at other institutions where barriers to reduced prescribing exist.
| S-EPMC8285762 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe Opioid Reduction Act (SB 273) took effect in West Virginia in June 2018. This legislation limited ongoing chronic opioid prescriptions to 30 days' supply, and first-time opioid prescriptions to 7 days' supply for surgeons and 3 days' for emergency rooms and dentists. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of this legislation on reducing opioid prescriptions in West Virginia, with the goal of informing future similar policy efforts.MethodsData were requested from the state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) including overall number of opioid prescriptions, number of first-time opioid prescriptions, average daily morphine milligram equivalents (MME) and prescription duration (expressed as "days' supply") given to adults during the 64 week time periods before and after legislation enactment. Statistical analysis was done utilizing an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) interrupted time series analysis to assess impact of both legislation announcement and enactment while controlling secular trends and considering autocorrelation trends. Benzodiazepine prescriptions were utilized as a control.ResultsOur analysis demonstrates a significant decrease in overall state opioid prescribing as well as a small change in average daily MME associated with the date of the legislation's enactment when considering serial correlation in the time series and accounting for pre-intervention trends. There was no such association found with benzodiazepine prescriptions.ConclusionResults of the current study suggest that SB 273 was associated with an average 22.1% decrease of overall opioid prescriptions and a small change in average daily MME relative to the date of legislative implementation in West Virginia. There was, however, no association of the legislation on first-time opioid prescriptions or days' supply of opioid medication, and all variables were trending downward prior to implementation of SB 273. The control demonstrated no relationship to the law.
| S-EPMC7852151 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundMany states have implemented opioid days' supply restriction policies, leading to reductions in opioid prescribing. Although research within certain provider types exist, no study has evaluated a restriction policy by various provider types.ObjectiveTo evaluate changes in opioid utilization following a days' supply restriction policy stratified by provider type: surgery, emergency medicine, primary care, specialty care, and dentistry.DesignInterrupted time series (ITS) PARTICIPANTS: Opioid prescription claims of patients in a private health plan serving a large Florida employer from 1/1/2015 to 3/31/2019. Provider types were determined using the Healthcare Provider Taxonomy Code associated with the national provider identifier (NPI).InterventionsFlorida's opioid restriction policy implemented on July 1, 2018.Main measuresChanges in mean morphine milligram equivalent (MMEs), mean days' supply, and mean number of units dispensed per opioid prescription before and after policy implementation.Key resultsThere were 10,583 opioid initial prescriptions dispensed. Treating providers were classified as surgery (16.4%; n = 1732), emergency care (14.3%; n = 1516), primary care (21.2%; n = 2241), specialty care (11.4%; n = 1207), and dentistry providers (23.7%; n = 2511). Significant reductions in mean days' supply were observed across most provider types ranging from 14% reduction for dentistry providers to 41% reduction for specialty care providers. Significant changes were observed for emergency care and specialty care providers with a 30% (p = 0.001)and 29% (p < 0.001) reduction in mean MME, respectively, and a 27% (p = 0.040) reduction in mean number of units dispensed in emergency care providers, after implementation. Pre-implementation trends in opioid prescribing varied by provider type impacting the effects of the opioid days' supply restriction policy.ConclusionsPre-policy opioid prescribing varied by provider type with a differential impact on mean MMEs, mean days' supply, and mean number of units dispensed per prescription following implementation.
| S-EPMC9198141 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceReliance on prescription opioids for postprocedural analgesia has contributed to the opioid epidemic. With the implementation of electronic medical record (EMR) systems, there has been increasing use of computerized order entry systems for medication prescriptions, which is now more common than handwritten prescriptions. The EMR can autopopulate a default number of pills prescribed, and 1 potential method to alter prescriber behavior is to change the default number presented via the EMR system.ObjectiveTo investigate the association of lowering the default number of pills presented when prescribing opioids in an EMR system with the amount of opioid prescribed after procedures.Design, setting, and participantsA prepost intervention study was conducted to compare postprocedural prescribing patterns during the 3 months before the default change (February 18 to May 17, 2017) with the 3 months after the default change (May 18 to August 18, 2017). The setting was a multihospital health care system that uses Epic EMR (Hyperspace 2015 IU2; Epic Systems Corporation). Participants were all patients in the study period undergoing 1 of the 10 most common operations and discharged by postoperative day 1.InterventionThe default number of opioid pills autopopulated in the EMR when prescribing discharge analgesia was lowered from 30 to 12.Main outcomes and measuresLinear regression estimating the change in the median number of opioid pills and the total dose of opioid prescribed was performed. Opioid doses were converted into morphine milligram equivalents (MME) for comparison. The frequency of patients requiring analgesic prescription refills was also evaluated.ResultsThere were 1447 procedures (mean [SD] age, 54.4 [17.3] years; 66.9% female) before the default change and 1463 procedures (mean [SD] age, 54.5 [16.4] years; 67.0% female) after the default change. After the default change, the median number of opioid pills prescribed decreased from 30 (interquartile range, 15-30) to 20 (interquartile range, 12-30) per prescription (P < .001). The percentage of prescriptions written for 30 pills decreased from 39.7% (554 of 1397) before the default change to 12.9% (183 of 1420) after the default change (P < .001), and the percentage of prescriptions written for 12 pills increased from 2.1% (29 of 1397) before the default change to 24.6% (349 of 1420) after the default change (P < .001). Regression analysis demonstrated a decrease of 5.22 (95% CI, -6.12 to -4.32) opioid pills per prescription after the default change, for a total decrease of 34.41 (95% CI, -41.36 to -27.47) MME per prescription. There was no statistical difference in opioid refill rates (3.0% [4 of 135] before the default change vs 1.5% [2 of 135] after the default change, P = .41).Conclusions and relevanceLowering the default number of opioid pills prescribed in an EMR system is a simple, effective, cheap, and potentially scalable intervention to change prescriber behavior and decrease the amount of opioid medication prescribed after procedures.
| S-EPMC6583068 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeWe quantified the effects of Florida's prescription drug monitoring program and pill mill law on high-risk patients.MethodsWe used QuintilesIMS LRx Lifelink data to identify patients receiving prescription opioids in Florida (intervention state, N: 1.13 million) and Georgia (control state, N: 0.54 million). The preintervention, intervention, and postintervention periods were July 2010 to June 2011, July 2011 to September 2011, and October 2011 to September 2012. We identified 3 types of high-risk patients: (1) concomitant users: patients with concomitant use of benzodiazepines and opioids; (2) chronic users: long-term, high-dose, opioid users; and (3) opioid shoppers: patients receiving opioids from multiple sources. We compared changes in opioid prescriptions between Florida and Georgia before and after policy implementation among high-risk/low-risk patients. Our monthly measures included (1) average morphine milligram equivalent per transaction, (2) total opioid volume across all prescriptions, (3) average days supplied per transaction, and (4) total number of opioid prescriptions dispensed.ResultsAmong opioid-receiving individuals in Florida, 6.62% were concomitant users, 1.96% were chronic users, and 0.46% were opioid shoppers. Following policy implementation, Florida's high-risk patients experienced relative reductions in morphine milligram equivalent (opioid shoppers: -1.08 mg/month, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.62 to -0.54), total opioid volume (chronic users: -4.58 kg/month, CI -5.41 to -3.76), and number of dispensed opioid prescriptions (concomitant users: -640 prescriptions/month, CI -950 to -340). Low-risk patients generally did not experience statistically significantly relative reductions.ConclusionsCompared with Georgia, Florida's prescription drug monitoring program and pill mill law were associated with large relative reductions in prescription opioid utilization among high-risk patients.
| S-EPMC6664298 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe opioid epidemic represents a major public health issue in the United States and has led to significant morbidity and mortality. On July 1 2018, Florida implemented state-law House Bill 21 (HB21), limiting opioid prescriptions to a 3-day supply for acute pain or 7 days if an exception is documented. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of HB21 on opioid prescribing patterns after spine surgery.MethodsPatients 18 years and older who underwent spine surgery between January 2017 and January 2021 were eligible for inclusion. Information including demographics, pills, days, and morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) was obtained via retrospective chart review using the Florida Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and Epic Chart Review. Student's t tests and Fisher's exact tests were used for comparison of continuous variables. Multiple logistic regression was utilized to determine which variables were associated with postoperative opioid prescriptions. p<.05 was considered significant.ResultsWe reviewed 114 patients who underwent spine surgery from January 2017 to July 2018 and 264 patients from July 2018 to January 21. There were no significant differences between the groups in age, sex, ethnicity, body mass index, number of levels fused, or preoperative opioid use. The average number of MMEs, pills prescribed and days in the first postoperative prescription decreased significantly after HB21. Multiple logistic regression revealed that the variable most predictive of MMEs and number of pills in the first postoperative prescription was postlaw status (p=.002, p=.50).ConclusionsFlorida law HB21 was successful in decreasing postoperative opioid prescriptions after spine surgery, however, the need for additional progress remains. Legislation should be combined with multimodal pain regimens, as well as patient and provider education in order to further decrease postoperative opioid requirements. Future studies should include a larger number of patients treated by multiple spine surgeons across multiple institutions in order to further evaluate the effects of HB21 on postoperative opioid prescriptions.
| S-EPMC10034149 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Long-term opioid use for noncancer pain is increasingly prevalent yet controversial given the risks of addiction, diversion, and overdose. Prior literature has identified the problem and proposed management guidelines, but limited evidence exists on the actual effectiveness of implementing such guidelines in a primary care setting.A multidisciplinary working group of institutional experts assembled comprehensive guidelines for chronic opioid prescribing, including monitoring and referral recommendations. The guidelines were disseminated in September 2013 to our medical center's primary care clinics via in person and electronic education.We extracted electronic medical records for patients with noncancer pain receiving opioid prescriptions (Rxs) in seasonally matched preintervention (11/1/2012-6/1/2013) and postintervention (11/1/2013-6/1/2014) periods. For patients receiving chronic (3 or more) opioid Rxs, we assessed the rates of drug screening, specialty referrals, clinic visits, emergency room visits, and quantity of opioids prescribed.After disseminating guidelines, the percentage of noncancer clinic patients receiving any opioid Rxs dropped from 3.9% to 3.4% (P?=?0.02). The percentage of noncancer patients receiving chronic opioid Rxs decreased from 2.0% to 1.6% (P?=?0.03). The rate of urine drug screening increased from 9.2% to 17.3% (P?=?0.005) amongst noncancer chronic opioid patients. No significant differences were detected for other metrics or demographics assessed.An educational intervention for primary care opioid prescribing is feasible and was temporally associated with a modest reduction in overall opioid Rx rates. Provider use of routine drug screening increased, but overall rates of screening and specialty referral remained low despite the intervention. Despite national pressures to introduce opioid prescribing guidelines for chronic pain, doing so alone does not necessarily yield substantial changes in clinical practice.
| S-EPMC5008612 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPrescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and pill mill laws were implemented to reduce opioid-related injuries/deaths. We evaluated their effects on high-risk prescribers in Florida.MethodsWe used IMS Health's LRx Lifelink database between July 2010 and September 2012 to identify opioid-prescribing prescribers in Florida (intervention state, N: 38,465) and Georgia (control state, N: 18,566). The pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention periods were: July 2010-June 2011, July 2011-September 2011, and October 2011-September 2012. High-risk prescribers were those in the top 5th percentile of opioid volume during four consecutive calendar quarters. We applied comparative interrupted time series models to evaluate policy effects on clinical practices and monthly prescribing measures for low-risk/high-risk prescribers.ResultsWe identified 1526 (4.0%) high-risk prescribers in Florida, accounting for 67% of total opioid volume and 40% of total opioid prescriptions. Relative to their lower-risk counterparts, they wrote sixteen times more monthly opioid prescriptions (79 vs. 5, p<0.01), and had more prescription-filling patients receiving opioids (47% vs. 19%, p<0.01). Following policy implementation, Florida's high-risk providers experienced large relative reductions in opioid patients and opioid prescriptions (-536 patients/month, 95% confidence intervals [CI] -829 to -243; -847 prescriptions/month, CI -1498 to -197), morphine equivalent dose (-0.88mg/month, CI -1.13 to -0.62), and total opioid volume (-3.88kg/month, CI -5.14 to -2.62). Low-risk providers did not experience statistically significantly relative reductions, nor did policy implementation affect the status of being high- vs. low- risk prescribers.ConclusionsHigh-risk prescribers are disproportionately responsive to state policies. However, opioids-prescribing remains highly concentrated among high-risk providers.
| S-EPMC4985620 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND: The incidence of neonatal opioid withdrawal is increasing in both Canada and the United States. However, the degree to which the treatment of pain with opioids, rather than the misuse of prescription opioids or heroin, contributes to the prevalence of neonatal opioid withdrawal remains unknown. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, population-based, cross-sectional study between 1992 and 2011 in Ontario with 2 objectives. First, we determined the annual incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome. Second, using data from a subset of women eligible for publicly funded prescription drugs, we determined what proportion of women who deliver an infant with neonatal abstinence syndrome were given a prescription for an opioid before and during pregnancy. RESULTS: The incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome in Ontario increased 15-fold during the study period, from 0.28 per 1000 live births in 1992 to 4.29 per 1000 live births in 2011. During the final 5 years of the study, we identified 927 deliveries of infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome to mothers who were public drug plan beneficiaries. Of these mothers, 67% had received an opioid prescription in the 100 days preceding delivery, including 53.3% who received methadone, an increase from 28.6% in the interval spanning 1 to 2 years before delivery (p < 0.001). Prescription for nonmethadone opioids decreased from 38% to 17% (p < 0.001). INTERPRETATION: The incidence of neonatal opioid withdrawal in Ontario has increased substantially over the last 20 years. Most of the women in this cohort who delivered an infant with neonatal abstinence syndrome had received a prescription for an opioid both before and during their pregnancy.
| S-EPMC4382031 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundSeveral US states have introduced legislation to support the legitimate medical use of opioids while limiting misuse and diversion. One concern which has been addressed through legislation is preventing individuals from seeking opioid prescriptions concurrently from multiple providers. However, the impact of this legislation on the incidence of patients receiving concurrent prescriptions remains relatively unexplored. This study examines this phenomenon based on claims data from Medicaid enrollees and the enactment of legislation in Indiana.MethodsIndiana Medicaid claims data over the period of January 2014 to December 2019 were used to determine the changes in the percentage of individuals receiving opioid prescriptions from multiple providers within a 30-day period, that is, concurrent opioid prescription (COP) individuals. Indiana Medicaid enrollees with a diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD) receiving opioid prescriptions, that is, the OUD-group, were identified and separated from the enrollees without a diagnosis but receiving opioid prescriptions, that is, the non-OUD group. The mean percentages of COP individuals (with or without an OUD diagnosis) within the subset of individuals that received opioid prescriptions were compared before and after the passage of Indiana Public Law 194.ResultsThere were 5336 who met the criteria of COP individuals, and 2050 of those were in the OUD-group. In either group, there was a significant difference in the change in percentages (slope) before and after Indiana Public Law 194 passed. In addition, there was a significant decrease in the mean percentage of COP individuals in the non-OUD group, while the difference was not significant in the OUD group.ConclusionOur study suggests that Indiana Public Law 194 had a positive impact on curbing COP. This study is limited by the level of details available from claims data and suggests additional studies to evaluate prescription use and prescribing practices are warranted.
| S-EPMC10134119 | biostudies-literature