Potential impact of reducing outpatient physician-level variation in opioid analgesic prescribing amounts for acute painful conditions

Kit Delgado proposed to assess physician-level variability in opioid drug prescribing practices for six specific diagnoses across multiple specialties. Delgado used the Optum Cliniformatics DataMart national private insurance claims database to estimate excess prescription opioids prescribed by state and nationally, and calculated the resulting excess cost to the health system.

Kit Delgado is an emergency physician investigator and a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at University of Pennsylvania. He is committed to exploring innovative approaches to reduce the health and economic burden of injury. His research focuses on clinical and policy interventions in emergency care and trauma systems to improve injury.