After nonfatal overdoses, Medicaid patients in Pennsylvania demonstrated a minimal reduction in prescription opioid use and a marginal increase in medication-assisted addiction treatment from 2008 to 2013, according to a study published in JAMA.
For the study, researchers analyzed 2008 to 2013 claims data for all Pennsylvania Medicaid enrollees aged 12 years to 64 years. In total, researchers identified 13,670 enrollees with an overdose event.
After overdosing on heroin, the number of patients filling an opioid prescription dropped 3.5 percent, and the number of patients receiving medication-assisted treatment for addiction increased 3.6 percent. After overdosing on prescription opioids, the amount of patients receiving medication-assisted treatment increased 1.6 percent, and the number of patients filling an opioid prescription dropped 6.5 percent.
"This is a time when people are vulnerable, potentially frightened by this event that's just occurred and amenable to advice, referral and treatment recommendations," Julie Donohue, PhD, associate professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh and the paper's senior author, told NPR. "It's safe to characterize it as a missed opportunity for the health system to respond."
For every person that dies of an opioid overdose in America, there are about 30 more individuals who experience a nonfatal overdose.
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