Clinical outcomes and health care costs among people entering a safer opioid supply program in Ontario.

ABSTRACT:

Background

London InterCommunity Health Centre (LIHC) launched a safer opioid supply (SOS) program in 2016, where clients are prescribed pharmaceutical opioids and provided with comprehensive health and social supports. We sought to evaluate the impact of this program on health services utilization and health care costs.

Methods

We conducted an interrupted time series analysis of London, Ontario, residents who received a diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD) and who entered the SOS program between January 2016 and March 2019, and a comparison group of individuals matched on demographic and clinical characteristics who were not exposed to the program. Primary outcomes were emergency department (ED) visits, hospital admissions, admissions for infections and health care costs.

SUBMITTER: Gomes T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9484622 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature