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How well do doctors know their patients? Evidence from a mandatory access prescription drug monitoring program
Author(s) -
Buchmueller Thomas C.,
Carey Colleen M.,
Meille Giacomo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/hec.4020
Subject(s) - medical prescription , medicine , controlled substance , family medicine , health care , margin (machine learning) , opioid , business , medical emergency , nursing , economics , economic growth , receptor , machine learning , computer science
Many opioid control policies target the prescribing behavior of health care providers. In this paper, we study the first comprehensive state‐level policy requiring providers to access patients' opioid history before making prescribing decisions. We compare prescribers in Kentucky, which implemented this policy in 2012, to those in a control state, Indiana. Our main difference‐in‐differences analysis uses the universe of prescriptions filled in the two states to assess how the information provided affected prescribing behavior. We find that a significant share of low‐volume providers stopped prescribing opioids altogether after the policy was implemented, though this change accounted for a small share of the reduction in total volume. The most important margin of response was to prescribe opioids to fewer patients. Although providers disproportionately discontinued treating patients whose opioid histories showed the use of multiple providers, there were also economically meaningful reductions for patients without multiple providers and single‐use acute patients.