A Difference-In-Differences Analysis of New Persistent Opioid Use After Surgery

In the United States, surgical care has become a gateway for chronic opioid dependence and its associated morbidity. Between 5-10% of patients who receive opioids for postoperative pain control go on to develop long-term opioid use. This translates to more than 2 million previously opioid-naïve individuals developing chronic opioid use after surgery each year. Persistent opioid use after surgery is associated with increased readmissions, healthcare utilization, and healthcare expenditures. Critically, long-term opioid use increases the risk of overdose and death in patients who, prior to their surgery, had no exposure to opioids. Growing recognition of this problem has led to numerous efforts aimed at reducing opioid-associated morbidity after surgery. These include legislative limits on opioid prescribing for acute pain, procedure-specific prescribing guidelines based on patient-reported opioid use, and opioid-sparing pain management pathways. In Michigan specifically, the Michigan Opioid Prescribing and Engagement Network (M-OPEN) led a statewide quality improvement effort beginning in 2016 that focused on provider education using evidence-based opioid prescribing guidelines. Previously, these guidelines have been shown to significantly reduce excessive postoperative opioid prescribing across the state, however it is currently unknown whether these efforts have had any effect on the actual incidence of persistent opioid use after surgery. Therefore, the current study will evaluate the incidence of new persistent opioid use before and after the establishment of M-OPEN in Michigan. Beginning in 2016, a statewide quality improvement initiative was undertaken in Michigan to improve postoperative opioid prescribing. In order to accomplish this goal, this study will use a difference-in-differences approach to compare new persistent opioid use in Michigan before and after 2016 to other states where no such quality improvement effort existed.