Opioid prescribing patterns among medical providers in the United States, 2003-17: retrospective, observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To examine the distribution and patterns of opioid prescribing in the United States.

Design

Retrospective, observational study.

Setting

National private insurer covering all 50 US states and Washington DC.

Participants

An annual average of 669 495 providers prescribing 8.9 million opioid prescriptions to 3.9 million patients from 2003 through 2017.

Main outcome measures

Standardized doses of opioids in morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) and number of opioid prescriptions.

Results

In 2017, the top 1% of providers accounted for 49% of all opioid doses and 27% of all opioid prescriptions. In absolute terms, the top 1% of providers prescribed an average of 748 000 MMEs-nearly 1000 times more than the middle 1%. At least half of all provid

SUBMITTER: Kiang MV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7190021 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature