Opioids and Substance Use Disorders: What's New
EHR Integration Significantly Increases Use of the PDMP by Primary Care Providers
A stepped wedge trial of 12 primary care clinics demonstrated that implementation of one-click Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) accessibility in an electronic heath record (EHR) system was associated with a nearly 3-fold increase in PDMP queries. Non-physician providers (NPs/PAs) used the PDMP to a greater extent than physician providers and providers who used the PDMP the least before integration saw the largest increase in queries after integration. The full article is available at Effect of integration of prescription drug monitoring program data in the electronic health record on queries by primary care providers in Health Informatics Journal. Posted July 2024.
Addiction Consultation Associated with Increased Initiation of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder and Reduced Post-discharge Acute Care Utilization
An AHRQ funded retrospective cohort study of individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) admitted to an academic medical center found that in-hospital addiction consultation was associated with greater initiation of medication for OUD, fewer emergency department visits, and fewer hospitalizations up to 90 days post discharge. However, the study also found that patients receiving consultation services were more likely than control subjects to be young, male and White. The full article is available at Impact of inpatient addiction psychiatry consultation on opioid use disorder outcomes in Am J Addict. June 2024.
Patients with Chronic Mental Health Conditions More Likely to Screen Positive for Unhealthy Alcohol Use but Less Likely to be Screened
A recent study from the EvidenceNow Managing Unhealthy Alcohol Use initiative found that although patients with chronic mental health conditions were more likely to screen positive for unhealthy alcohol use than patients without multiple chronic conditions, Virginia primary care patients with these conditions were less likely to receive an alcohol-related assessment during the past 2 years than those without. The full article is available at Screening for Unhealthy Alcohol Use among Patients with Multiple Chronic Conditions in Primary Care in AJPM Focus. May 2024
Opioids Newsroom
AHRQ's blog posts, infographics, and announcements on its latest efforts to help end the opioid epidemic.
