• Eboni G Price-Haywood, Jeffrey H Burton, Jewel Harden-Barrios, Alessandra Bazzano, Lizheng Shi, John Lefante, and Robert N Jamison.
• Ochsner Xavier Institute for Health Equity and Research, Academic Center - 2nd Floor, 1401A Jefferson Highway, New Orleans, LA, 70121, USA. eboni.pricehaywood@ochsner.org.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Nov 1; 39 (15): 295229602952-2960.

BackgroundHigh prevalence of depression or anxiety with opioid use for chronic pain complicates co-management and may influence prescribing behaviors.ObjectiveCompare clinical effectiveness of electronic medical record clinical decision support (EMR-CDS) versus additional behavioral health (BH) care management for reducing rates of high-dose opioid prescriptions.DesignType 2 effectiveness-implementation hybrid stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial in 35 primary care clinics within a health system in LA, USA.ParticipantsPatients aged 18+ receiving chronic opioid therapy for non-cancer pain with depression or anxiety and matched controls.InterventionEMR-CDS included opioid risk mitigation procedures. BH care included cognitive behavioral therapy; depression or anxiety medication adjustments; and case management.Main MeasuresOutcomes of interest included difference-in-difference (DID) estimate of changes in probability for prescribing high-dose morphine equivalent daily dose (MEDD ≥50 mg/day and MEDD ≥90), average MEDD, and rates of hospitalization, emergency department use, and opioid risk mitigation.Key ResultsMost participants were female with 3+ pain syndromes. Data analysis included 632 patients. Absolute risk differences for MEDD≥50 and ≥90 decreased post-index compared to pre-index (DID of absolute risk difference [95%CI]: -0.036 [-0.089, 0.016] and -0.029 [-0.060, 0.002], respectively). However, these differences were not statistically significant. The average MEDD decreased at a higher rate for the BH group compared to EMR-CDS only (DID rate ratio [95%CI]: 0.85 [0.77, 0.93]). There were no changes in hospitalization and emergency department utilization. The BH group had higher probabilities of new specialty referrals and prescriptions for naloxone and antidepressants.ConclusionsIncorporation of a multidisciplinary behavioral health care team into primary care did not decrease high-dose prescribing; however, it improved adherence to clinical guideline recommendations for managing chronic opioid therapy for non-cancer pain.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT03889418.© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.

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