Effects of Opioid-Related Policies on Opioid Utilization, Nature of Medical Care, and Duration of Disability

David Neumark and Bogdan Savych

No 29371, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We examine the effects of must-access prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and recent regulations limiting the duration of initial opioid prescriptions on care received by patients with work-related injuries, focusing on opioid utilization and medical care related to pain management. We find that must-access PDMPs contributed to declines in opioid utilization, while regulations limiting duration of initial opioid prescriptions had little effect on whether workers receive opioids, but reduced opioid use among those with prescriptions. We find some evidence that must-access PDMPs affected utilization of other medical care—most interestingly, in light of high opioid use, towards non-opioid pain medication and interventional pain management services for neurologic spine pain. We find that must-access PDMPs and limits on initial prescriptions had little impact on the duration of temporary disability benefits captured at 12 months of maturity.

JEL-codes: I13 J28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-ias
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Published as David Neumark & Bogdan Savych, 2023. "Effects of Opioid-Related Policies on Opioid Utilization, Nature of Medical Care, and Duration of Disability," American Journal of Health Economics, vol 9(3), pages 331-373.

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Journal Article: Effects of Opioid-Related Policies on Opioid Utilization, Nature of Medical Care, and Duration of Disability (2023)
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