• Gail K Strickler, Kun Zhang, John F Halpin, Bohnert Amy S B ASB Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan and VA Center for Clinical Management Research, University of Michigan North Campus Research Complex,, Grant T Baldwin, and Peter W Kreiner.
• Institute for Behavioral Health, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA. Electronic address: strickler@brandeis.edu.
• Drug Alcohol Depend. 2019 Jun 1; 199: 1-9.

BackgroundComprehensive mandatory use laws for prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have been implemented in a number of states to help address the opioid overdose epidemic. These laws may reduce opioid-related overdose deaths by increasing prescribers' use of PDMPs and reducing high-risk prescribing behaviors.MethodsWe used state PDMP data to examine the effect of these mandates on prescriber registration, use of the PDMP, and on prescription-based measures of patient risk in three states-Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia-that implemented mandates between 2010 and 2015. We conducted comparative interrupted time series analyses to examine changes in outcome measures after the implementation of mandates in the mandate states compared to control states.ResultsMandatory use laws increased prescriber registration and utilization of the PDMP in the mandate states compared to controls. The multiple provider episode rate, rate of opioid prescribing, rate of overlapping opioid prescriptions, and rate of overlapping opioid/benzodiazepine prescriptions decreased in Kentucky and Ohio. Nevertheless, the magnitude of changes in these measures varied among mandates states.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that PDMP mandates have the potential to reduce risky opioid prescribing practices. Variation in the laws may explain why the effectiveness varied between states.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

31 keywords...

hide…