Reducing Opioid Prescribing Rates in Emergency Medicine.
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Pain management is one of the most common reasons patients visit the emergency department. Understanding the contributions of emergency medicine-and specifically Ochsner Health System's emergency providers-to the opioid crisis is important. Benchmark prescribing data indicated that Ochsner Health System emergency medicine providers' opioid prescription rates were significantly higher than the national average in emergency medicine. METHODS: Data relevant to visit and opioid prescription counts were extracted from the organization's electronic health record system. Opioid prescription rates were calculated for each provider. A data transparency project was initiated in which provider opioid prescription rates were unblinded and distributed among the provider group. RESULTS: Opioid prescription rates declined in aggregate for the emergency services from 22% to 14% during the 1-year project timeline. Some physicians demonstrated a 70% reduction in prescription rates. Importantly, patient satisfaction scores were not negatively impacted by declining opioid prescription rates. CONCLUSION: Provider performance transparency using unblinded and transparent data analytics can efficiently and significantly alter provider practice.
Source: PubMed Central
Authors: Joseph Guarisco, Adam Salup
Institutions: The University of Queensland, Ochsner Medical Center
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2801767943