JANUARY 8, 2024
Emergency room doctors are more likely to initiate buprenorphine treatment for patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) when their colleagues are also prescribing buprenorphine for OUD, according to recent data.
“There was a dose-dependent association between the number of exposures to the practice of buprenorphine initiation and the likelihood of a given clinician adopting the practice themselves,” study investigator Andrew J. Loza, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist in the Department of
Emergency room doctors are more likely to initiate buprenorphine treatment for patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) when their colleagues are also prescribing buprenorphine for OUD, according to recent data.
“There was a dose-dependent association between the number of exposures to the practice of buprenorphine initiation and the likelihood of a given clinician adopting the practice themselves,” study investigator Andrew J. Loza, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, in New Haven, Conn., told Pain Medicine News. “This is evidence supporting that an individual does not have to wait for things to change around them, but in fact, they might be able to effect change on their own.”
Among 1,026 clinicians in 18 emergency departments, the cumulative number of exposures to others initiating buprenorphine increased the likelihood of a doctor prescribing it themselves (JAMA Netw Open 2023;6[11]:e2342786. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.42786). Doctors with 10 exposures to other clinicians initiating buprenorphine were more than eight times as likely to prescribe buprenorphine compared with doctors who had only one exposure to colleagues prescribing the drug. Healthcare system and clinician’s role were also associated with buprenorphine for OUD practice adoption.
“This may account for a range of characteristics impacting practice adoption from cultural factors to logistical factors, such as how easy it is to connect to outpatient primary care for continued therapy.” Loza said.
The study’s results were limited by the fact that researchers did not have a record of prescriptions or exposures to colleagues prescribing medications for OUD before the study’s start date. A sensitivity analysis was performed to address this limitation and the results of the study appeared to still be significant.
“Future interventions could be designed that enhance the ability for clinicians to spread ideas in addition to traditional methods, such as computer-based clinician decision support systems,” Loza concluded. “A multifaceted approach may help improve overall uptake.”
—Myles Starr
Loza reported no relevant financial disclosures.
