Journal
CLINICAL JOURNAL OF PAIN
Volume 31, Issue 9, Pages 820-829Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000159
Keywords
prescribing practices; physician education; chronic opioid therapy; physician beliefs
Categories
Funding
- National Institute on Aging Bethesda, MD [AG034181]
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Washington D.C. [R-IHS-1306-02198]
- Group Health Foundation (Seattle, WA)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Pfizer Inc.
- Johnson Johnson
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objectives:Evaluate health plan interventions targeting physician chronic opioid therapy (COT) prescribing.Materials and Methods:In 2006, Group Health's (GH) Integrated Group Practice (IGP) initiated diverse interventions targeting COT prescriber norms and practices. In 2010, the IGP implemented a COT guideline, including a mandated online course for physicians managing COT. These interventions were not implemented in GH's network practices. We compared trends in GH-IGP and network practices for 2006 to 2012 in the percent of patients receiving COT and their opioid dose. We compared physician beliefs before versus after the mandated course and precourse to postcourse changes in COT dosing for IGP physicians who took the course.Results:From 2006 to 2012, mean (SE) daily opioid dose among IGP COT patients (intervention setting) declined from 74.1 mg (1.9 mg) morphine equivalent dose (MED) to 48.3 mg (1.0 mg) MED. Dose changes among GH network COT patients (control setting) were modest88.2 mg (5.0 mg) MED in 2006 to 75.7 mg (2.3 mg) MED in 2012. Among physicians taking the mandated course in 2011, we observed precourse to postcourse changes toward more conservative opioid prescribing beliefs. However, COT dosing trends did not change precourse to postcourse.Discussion:Following initiatives implemented to alter physician prescribing practices and norms, mean opioid dose prescribed to COT patients declined more in intervention than control practices. Physicians reported more conservative beliefs regarding opioid prescribing immediately after completing an online course in 2011, but the course was not associated with additional reductions in mean daily opioid dose prescribed by physicians completing the course.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available