Journal of Hospital Medicine· 2026Q1
Opioid manufacturer payments to hospitalists and hospitalists' prescribing of opioids on discharge
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Even minimal opioid-related payments from manufacturers to hospitalists are associated with increased opioid prescribing at discharge, with each payment linked to an average 0.94 percentage-point rise in opioid claims.
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Key points
- Opioid-related payments to hospitalists are uncommon, affecting 0.53% of physicians studied, and have declined significantly from 2015 to 2023.
- Each payment received by a hospitalist was associated with a 0.94 percentage-point increase in outpatient opioid prescription claims.
- This increase is equivalent to an average of 112 additional opioid claims per payment.
- The total value of payments was not associated with opioid claims, suggesting even small financial ties matter.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Marketing payments from opioid manufacturers to outpatient physicians are associated with opioid prescribing. We examined the association between opioid-related payments to hospitalists and opioid prescribing at discharge from 2015 to 2023. We linked Medicare Part B Physicians & Other Practitioners public use files, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Open Payments data, and Medicare Part D Prescribers Public Use Files to identify hospitalists' opioid-related payments and opioid prescribing. Of 67,408 hospitalists, 360 (0.53%) received payments, which declined from 581 in 2015 to 65 in 2023. Each payment was associated with a 0.94 percentage-point increase (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60 to 1.28) in the proportion of outpatient prescription claims for opioids, equivalent to 112 additional opioid claims (95% CI, 70.78 to 154.73). Total payment value was not associated with opioid claims. Opioid-related payments to hospitalists are uncommon and declining, but even minimal exposure is associated with greater opioid prescribing.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Issues, ethics and legal aspectsNursing