Addressing the Opioid Epidemic: Is There a Role for Physician Education?

Molly Schnell and Janet Currie

No 23645, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Using national data on opioid prescriptions written by physicians from 2006 to 2014, we uncover a striking relationship between opioid prescribing and medical school rank. Even within the same specialty and practice location, physicians who completed their initial training at top medical schools write significantly fewer opioid prescriptions annually than physicians from lower ranked schools. Additional evidence suggests that some of this gradient represents a causal effect of education rather than patient selection across physicians or physician selection across medical schools. Altering physician education may therefore be a useful policy tool in fighting the current epidemic.

JEL-codes: I1 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-08
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Published as Molly Schnell & Janet Currie, 2018. "Addressing the Opioid Epidemic: Is There a Role for Physician Education?," American Journal of Health Economics, vol 4(3), pages 383-410.

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Journal Article: Addressing the Opioid Epidemic: Is There a Role for Physician Education? (2018)
Journal Article: Addressing the Opioid Epidemic: Is There a Role for Physician Education? (2018)
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