The Authors’ Own Words: Overlapping buprenorphine, opioid, and benzodiazepine prescriptions among Veterans dually enrolled in VA and Medicare Part D

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Overlapping buprenorphine, opioid, and benzodiazepine prescriptions among Veterans dually enrolled in VA and Medicare Part D

Walid F. Gellad, MD, MPH; Xinhua Zhao, PhD; Carolyn T. Thorpe, PhD, MPH; Joshua M. Thorpe, PhD, MPH; Florentina E. Sileanu, MS; John P. Cashy, PhD; Maria Mor, PhD; Jennifer A. Hale, BA; Thomas Radomski, MD, MS; Leslie R. M. Hausmann, PhD; Michael J. Fine, MD, MSc; & Chester B. Good, MD, MPH

Substance Abuse Vol. 38, Iss. 1, 2017

“Our analysis is the first large scale examination of overlapping buprenorphine and opioid/benzodiazepines prescriptions across VA and Medicare. This work represents a very substantial effort to merge VA and Medicare data in a standardized fashion to understand overlapping prescriptions. As buprenorphine use increases both within and outside VA, this issue of overlapping prescriptions in non-communicating health systems will need to be addressed. As we state in the manuscript, the prescription drug monitoring programs may be a part of the solution, but will not mitigate risk entirely.”