Causes of opioid-related deaths are multifactorial, so solutions must address prescriber behaviors, patient contributory factors, nonmedical use patterns, and systemic failures. Clinical strategies to reduce opioid-related mortality should be empirically tested, should not reduce access to needed therapies, should address risk from methadone as well as other opioids, and should be incorporated into any risk evaluation and mitigation strategies enacted by regulators.

Provider detailing was associated with a decrease in Utah's prescription opioid death rate and improvements in provider self-reported prescribing behaviors. Other simultaneous interventions may have contributed to the decline in death rates. This intervention's effect was limited by short-term funding.

No abstract

The survey asked consumers a series of questions about health care topics, including, for example, who they most often see for their health care, who they would prefer to see if given the choice and what characteristics they would ascribe to various health care professionals. The survey defined the term "medical team" and supplied a list of various health care professionals: nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), internists, pediatricians, chiropractors, surgeons, physicians, and primary care physicians. Respondents then were asked which professional on that list was their "first call" when a medical question arose, and 41% indicated that they wanted to confer with their primary care physician. Some of the other responses were physician (24%), specialist (8%), NP (6%), and PA (3%). In addition, 70% of the adults surveyed said they were less likely to vote for a state representative who supported legislation that would restrict their ability to continue seeing their physician; 72% indicated they would be more likely to vote for a representative who would protect consumers' ability to continue to see their physician. Blackwelder summarized the findings this way: "Finally, we have a survey from patients that says they not only value primary care, they value you for your education, expertise and experience. "As family physicians, we not only are a critical part of the health care team, we are the identified leader of the team, and that's what our patients want and expect." Sheri Porter AAFP News Now From the American Board of Family Medicine