The Current State Of Opioid Prescribing

A Classic Infographic for athenahealth

#Health

The athenahealth research team analyzed more than half a million opioid prescriptions and 2 million patient visits to find recent trends in the state of prescribing.

We visualized the data in this infographic, originally appearing here.

©2016 athenahealth, Inc. Source: athenaResearch 12.1 % 10.8 % 11.7 % The current state of opioid prescribing To understand patterns in prescribing of opioids, athenahealth’s research team analyzed records of more than 2 million patient visits and 500,000 opioid prescriptions written each quarter from 2014 through 2016. This is part of an ongoing project to track the changing state of opioid prescribing nationwide. Here’s some of what we learned. While dosage strength is decreasing, the duration of prescriptions has not been shortened.Comparison: Share of opioid prescriptions with a daily strength ≥ 90 Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MMEs) and the average daily supply of prescriptions PCPs prescribe opioids for men and women at the same rate. Opioids are most commonly prescribed to patients over the age of 46. Share of primary care patients with an opioid prescription, by age PCPs prescribe opioids for uninsured patients more often than for other patients. Sample: Over 500,000 opioid prescriptions written by over 6,000 individual providers in Q2 of 2016 Sample: Over 500,000 opioid prescriptions written for over 280,000 patients each quarter. PCPs are writing fewer opioid prescriptions today than in the recent past. Share of primary care patients with an opioid prescription 50%PCP 2014 2015 2016 Q3 Q4 Q3 Q4 Q2 Q2 Q2 0 5 10 15 20 25 % of presciptions with daily strength ≥ 90 MME Days 23.3 22.6 DAYS DAYS DAYS 23.3 22.6 23.4 23.6 23.6 23.5 23.7 12.7 % 12.1 % 9.0 % 6.4% Commercial Medicaid Medicare Uninsured <1818-2526-4546-64>=65 0 5% 10% 15% 0.9 % 0.8 % 3.1 % 3.0 % 8.2 % 8.0 % 11.1 % 10.8 % 10.9 % 9.1 % 0 10% 15% 2015 2016 5% 2014 18-25 26-45 46-64 +65 Share of primary care patients where analgesic opioids were prescribed Share of primary care patients with an opioid prescription, Q2 2016 10.6% 9.8 % 8.1 % 3.6 % 3.4 % 3.1 % 10.9 % 10.2 % 8.9 % MaleFemale 1%Other Surgeons 1%OB/GYN 16% Pain Medicine 13%Orthopaedic Surgery 18%Other 50%PCP 10.6% 10.0 % 10.0 % 9.7 10.2 % 10.7 % 9.7 % 9.3 % 9.8 % 2014 2015 2016 0 10% 15% Q2 Q3 Q4 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q2 5% 9.4 10.5% 9.8% 9.6% 9.5% 10.6% 9.3% 9.4% 0 20 10 22.6 9.7% Most opioid prescriptions are written by primary care physicians (PCPs). Distribution of opioid prescriptions on athenaNet by provider specialty 10.9 % 9.1%