How well do doctors know their patients? Evidence from a mandatory access prescription drug monitoring program
研究肯塔基州强制医生在开处方前查询患者阿片类药物历史的政策效果，发现该政策使低处方量医生停止开阿片类药物，并减少对多处方来源患者的治疗。
Many opioid control policies target the prescribing behavior of health care providers. In this paper, we study the first comprehensive state-level policy requiring providers to access patients' opioid history before making prescribing decisions. We compare prescribers in Kentucky, which implemented this policy in 2012, to those in a control state, Indiana. Our main difference-in-differences analysis uses the universe of prescriptions filled in the two states to assess how the information provided affected prescribing behavior. We find that a significant share of low-volume providers stopped prescribing opioids altogether after the policy was implemented, though this change accounted for a small share of the reduction in total volume. The most important margin of response was to prescribe opioids to fewer patients. Although providers disproportionately discontinued treating patients whose opioid histories showed the use of multiple providers, there were also economically meaningful reductions for patients without multiple providers and single-use acute patients.