Changes in Prescribing by Provider Type Following a State Prescription Opioid Restriction Law

Many states have implemented opioid days' supply restriction policies, leading to reductions in opioid prescribing. Although research within certain provider types exist, no study has evaluated a restriction policy by various provider types.

To evaluate changes in opioid utilization following a days' supply restriction policy stratified by provider type: surgery, emergency medicine, primary care, specialty care, and dentistry.

Interrupted time series (ITS) PARTICIPANTS: Opioid prescription claims of patients in a private health plan serving a large Florida employer from 1/1/2015 to 3/31/2019. Provider types were determined using the Healthcare Provider Taxonomy Code associated with the national provider identifier (NPI).

Florida's opioid restriction policy implemented on July 1, 2018.

Changes in mean morphine milligram equivalent (MMEs), mean days' supply, and mean number of units dispensed per opioid prescription before and after policy implementation.

There were 10,583 opioid initial prescriptions dispensed. Treating providers were classified as surgery (16.4%; n = 1732), emergency care (14.3%; n = 1516), primary care (21.2%; n = 2241), specialty care (11.4%; n = 1207), and dentistry providers (23.7%; n = 2511). Significant reductions in mean days' supply were observed across most provider types ranging from 14% reduction for dentistry providers to 41% reduction for specialty care providers. Significant changes were observed for emergency care and specialty care providers with a 30% (p = 0.001)and 29% (p < 0.001) reduction in mean MME, respectively, and a 27% (p = 0.040) reduction in mean number of units dispensed in emergency care providers, after implementation. Pre-implementation trends in opioid prescribing varied by provider type impacting the effects of the opioid days' supply restriction policy.

Pre-policy opioid prescribing varied by provider type with a differential impact on mean MMEs, mean days' supply, and mean number of units dispensed per prescription following implementation.