We wish to develop an inexpensive, state-based intervention to reduce mis-prescribing and to foster more cautious prescribing practices. The New York State Prescription Drug Monitoring Databse (PDMP) will be utilized to identify clinicians who are prescribing excessively high doses of opioid analgesics and/or are frequently prescribing opioids in combination with benzodiazepines. These clinicians will receive a mailing from the New York State Department of Health, which oversees the PDMP, informing them that their prescribing patterns have raised concerns about patient safety. This mailing will include brief educational materials on opioid prescribing that focus specifically on decreasing dangerous prescribing practices. Prescribing patterns for misprescribers will be analyzed. Comparing six months of pre- intervention prescribing patterns to six months of post-intervention prescribing patterns will allow us to assess outcomes of the intervention. If the intervention is effective, other states with PDMPs may wish to replicate the program to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths.
The proposed intervention will utilize the New York State prescription drug monitoring database (PDMP) to identify clinicians who are misprescribing (prescribing excessively high doses of opioid analgesics and/or frequently prescribing opioids in combination with benzodiazepines). These clinicians will receive a mailing from the New York State Department of Health informing them that their prescribing patterns have raised concerns and educating them about cautious prescribing practices. Outcomes will be assessed utilizing the PDMP
