Letters to Clinicians May Promote Better-Informed Opioid Prescribing

Letters reminding clinicians of a mandate to check a state prescription tracking database before prescribing opioids significantly increased clinician participation in the program. The approach may promote better-informed and potentially safer opioid prescribing, according to a study in Health Affairs. The study enrolled 12,000 clinicians, all of whom practiced in Minnesota and prescribed opioids with benzodiazepines or gabapentinoids. Each clinician was assigned to a control group that received no letter or to a group that received 1 of 3 letters: one focusing on a new state requirement to check the database before prescribing opioids; another with information about coprescribing opioids with other drugs; or a third combining the 2 messages.