Study: ERs not a major source of opioid prescriptions
Opioid prescribing has increased 471 percent from 1996 to 2012, according to a new Annals of Emergency Medicine study, “Emergency Department Contribution to the Prescription Opioid Epidemic.” But, emergency departments are not a major source of opioid prescriptions. In fact, their share of opioid prescribing is small and declining.
The share of opioids from doctor’s office-based prescriptions rose from 71 percent to 83 percent during the 17 years analyzed. The share of prescription opioids originating from emergency departments declined from 7 percent to 4 percent in that same timeframe, the study finds. The analysis was based on the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data, administered to 15,000 patients annually.