Reducing Problematic Benzodiazepine Use Among Individuals Enrolled in Methadone Treatment Programs

Area of Science:

• Addiction Medicine
• Pharmacology
• Public Health

Background:

• Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programs often encounter challenges with co-prescribing benzodiazepines (BZDs).
• Problematic BZD use can complicate MMT outcomes and increase patient health risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate a quality improvement intervention aimed at reducing benzodiazepine prescriptions among MMT patients.
• To assess the effectiveness of interactive feedback loops in managing BZD use in an urban MMT setting.

Main Methods:

• A 5-year prospective quality improvement project involving 4 MMT providers.
• Utilized monthly patient-level Medicaid pharmacy claims data to track outside BZD prescriptions.
• Involved a multidisciplinary technical assistance team providing ongoing support and devising reduction strategies.

Main Results:

• A significant decrease in the overall rate of BZD prescriptions from 37% to 27% over the 5-year study period (2009-2013).
• Three out of the four participating MMT programs demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in BZD prescriptions.
• The intervention included 3464 Medicaid-eligible adults in an urban setting.

Conclusions:

• Ongoing, interactive feedback loops were perceived as valuable by MMT providers.
• The quality improvement intervention effectively contributed to reducing problematic BZD prescriptions in MMT patients.