By the Numbers: 26 November 2018
29%
The percentage of opioid prescriptions written between 2006 and 2015 "without an accompanying diagnosis of pain or other indication," according to a recent study by the RAND Corporation -- Documented Pain Diagnoses in Adults Prescribed Opioids: Results From the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2006-2015, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. The researchers noted:
Transparently and accurately documenting the justification for opioid therapy is essential to ensure appropriate, safe prescribing; yet, providers currently fall far short of this, particularly when renewing prescriptions. Requiring more robust documentation to show the clinical necessity of opioids—which many insurers already do for novel, costly drugs—could prompt providers to more carefully consider the need for opioids while facilitating efforts to identify inappropriate prescribing.
29%
The percentage of opioid prescriptions written between 2006 and 2015 "without an accompanying diagnosis of pain or other indication," according to a recent study by the RAND Corporation -- Documented Pain Diagnoses in Adults Prescribed Opioids: Results From the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2006-2015, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. The researchers noted:
Transparently and accurately documenting the justification for opioid therapy is essential to ensure appropriate, safe prescribing; yet, providers currently fall far short of this, particularly when renewing prescriptions. Requiring more robust documentation to show the clinical necessity of opioids—which many insurers already do for novel, costly drugs—could prompt providers to more carefully consider the need for opioids while facilitating efforts to identify inappropriate prescribing.