Physician Dispensing Associated With Unnecessary Prescribing Of Opioids

A new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute found evidence that physician dispensing encouraged some physicians to unnecessarily prescribe strong opioids. The study analyzed the prescribing behavior after Florida banned physician dispensing of strong opioids.

The authors of the study, The Impact of Physician Dispensing on Opioid Use, expected little change in the percentage of patients getting strong opioids—only a change from physician-dispensed to pharmacy-dispensed. Instead of finding an increase in pharmacy-dispensed strong opioids, the study found no material change. Rather, there was an increase in the percentage of patients receiving physician-dispensed weaker pain medications—specifically, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (eg, ibuprofen)—from 24.1% to 25.8%, and the percentage receiving weaker (not banned) opioids increased from 9.1% to 10.1%.

Read the press release: http://bit.ly/1xpePiv