Patients in the most rural counties had an 87 percent greater chance of receiving an opioid prescription from their primary care provider between January 2014 and March 2017 than patients in large metropolitan areas, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prescribing rates were higher in rural than urban counties throughout the study period, but decreased across all rural and urban categories after the CDC released its guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain in March 2016. “As less densely populated areas indicate both progress in decreasing opioid prescribing and need for ongoing reduction, tailoring community health care practices and intervention programs to community characteristics will remain important,” the authors said. The findings are based on electronic health record data from a sample of primary care providers. For AHA resources to help hospitals and health systems address the opioid epidemic, including a recently updated toolkit, visit www.aha.org.

Related News Articles

Headline
A blog by Julia Resnick, AHA senior director of health outcomes and care transformation, describes a new project with the Commonwealth Fund that will explore…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Sept. 15 announced that states can now apply for funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program created…
Headline
The AHA detailed its key health care priorities for the remainder of the year in comments to House and Senate majority and minority leaders Sept. 15. The AHA…
Headline
The Food and Drug Administration Sept. 10 released draft guidance on non-opioid treatments for treating chronic pain and reducing prescription opioid misuse.…
Headline
Health care leaders and other officials Sept. 9 shared their perspectives on issues related to health care access, particularly in rural areas, during an event…
Headline
A Health Affairs study published Sept. 2 found that less than 40% of Medicare beneficiaries with opioid use disorder received standard care in alignment with…