Williams and Co-authors Publish Research on Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care
Posted: 10/19/2023 (CSDE Research)
CSDE Affiliate Emily Williams (Health Systems and Population Health) and co-authors published their research in Annals of Internal Medicine, titled “Does Screening for Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care Increase the Percentage of Patients With a New Diagnosis?“. Integrating care for common mental health disorders into primary care through screening and treatment has proved to be highly effective and is now a widespread practice. Primary care may also be an ideal setting to offer treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), as primary care providers make up the bulk of buprenorphine prescribers (1). However, substance use disorders often go unrecognized in primary care. Screening may be an effective approach to increase identification of OUD, as it is for depression, anxiety, and alcohol use disorder (2, 3). The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for substance use in primary care settings if effective treatments are available. Authors’ study aims to compare the percentage of primary care patients who are newly diagnosed with OUD before and after implementation of universal screening for OUD.