Association of Primary Care Clinic Appointment Time With Opioid Prescribing.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Time pressure to provide a quick fix is commonly cited as a reason why opioids are frequently prescribed in the United States, but there is little evidence of an association between appointment timing and clinical decision-making. As the workday progresses and appointments run behind schedule, physicians may be more likely to prescribe opioids.

Objective

To estimate whether characteristics of appointment timing are associated with clinical decision-making about pain treatment.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional study of physician behavior used data from electronic health record systems in primary care offices in the United States to analyze primary care appointments occurring in 2017 for patients with a new painful condition who had not

SUBMITTER: Neprash HT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6724149 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature