The state is giving doctors a heads-up if they’re prescribing opioid painkillers more than other providers — part of a multi-pronged approach to combat prescription drug abuse in Minnesota. Human Services Commissioner Tony Lourey says, “Prescribers really stepped forward and owned the fact that prescriptions — prescribed opioids — is a real driver in our opioid crisis that we’re experiencing in Minnesota and across the country.”
Lourey says next year if a provider is still prescribing disproportionate amounts of opioid painkillers they’ll have to submit a plan to improve their practices. If there’s no improvement the year after that, sanctions could be imposed. “It’s my hope that we don’t have to do any of that,” Lourey says, “because I think that most prescribers actually are really wanting this type of advice and this type of peer support to understand what the right approach is when we have to use opioids.”
Opioid prescription rates vary widely across Minnesota. In one county, doctors issued about 27 opioid prescriptions per 100 residents. In another county, that figure was nearly 99 — “pretty much one per every person in that county,” Lourey says.