BMJ recently published an analysis of opioid prescribing among Medicare patients –“Opioid prescribering by multiple providers in Medicare: retrospective observational study of insurance claims”.
A couple of things jumped out:
- Just over two thirds of opioid recipients had more than one opioid prescription.
- Usually the opioid recipients had prescriptions from two or more doctors, if they had multiple prescriptions.
For patients taking opioids, this means an over 40% chance that your patient has at least one other opioid prescription from another practice.
Checking the PDMP is the only reliable way to get this information.
Of course, at Prescription Advisory, we do this for every patient, every time, automatically, and bring prescriptions from outside your practice to your immediate attention.
How do you find your 40% with outside prescriptions? How do you manage the conversation? I’d love hear your solution.
David Stengle, Chief Marketing Officer