RAND-USC Schaeffer OPTIC
A National Resource for Opioid Policy Science
|
 |
Note from the Co-Director
 |
One of OPTIC’s core goals is to ensure that we communicate what we are learning to an audience beyond just the scientific community. In particular, we want to ensure our work gets directly into the hands of policymakers. Our Key Takeaways are a good example of one way in which we do this. We take information and advice from our Advisory Board, which includes the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures, to help focus the discussion in these Key Takeaways and to suggest the best ways to synthesize policy implications across multiple studies most useful to decisionmakers. OPTIC researchers also present findings on specific topics through invited testimony. Recent examples include testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on using an integrated system-based approach to addressing the opioid crisis and testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security on transitioning markets for fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
Additional information about recent OPTIC policy studies is available on our Publications page. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions at OPTIC@rand.org. – Bradley Stein
|
|
Recent Products from OPTIC Researchers
|
|
|
Photo by WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobe Stock
|
|
State policies that impose punitive action against pregnant women who use illicit substances are associated with higher rates of infants being born with opioid withdrawal.
Read more »
|
|
|
|
Photo by Eptian Savero Fitrahnsa/Getty Images
|
|
A better understanding of the barriers to naloxone prescribing can help ensure individuals have the opportunity to receive naloxone from their treating clinicians.
Read more »
|
|
|
|
Graphic by AniGraphics/Getty Images
|
|
We conducted a scoping study to identify data sources and linking strategies commonly used in opioid studies, describe data source strengths and limitations, and highlight opportunities to use data to address public health research questions.
Read more »
|
|
|
|
Photo by Wavebreakmedia/Getty Images
|
|
This study sheds light on the distribution of buprenorphine-waivered prescribers over the past decade. Growth has been rapid in communities affected by the opioid crisis, but slower in rural communities, and those with lower levels of education.
Read more »
|
|
|
|
Photo by artisteer/Getty Images
|
|
By targeting higher-risk patients during clinical encounters, naloxone prescribing requirements could increase naloxone prescribed, destigmatize naloxone use, and reduce overdose harms.
Read more »
|
|
|
|
Image by chanut iamnoy/Getty Images
|
|
Developing and using a state-level opioid policy can facilitate the design and implementation of more effective state-level policies-an essential tool in addressing the opioid crisis.
Read more »
|
|
|
|
Waivered prescribers
increased
355%
from 2007 to 2017. (RAND Corporation)
|
|
|
|
National Perspectives
|
|
A national sampling of thought-provoking research and insights
|
|
|
Associations Between Prescribed Benzodiazepines, Overdose Death and Buprenorphine Discontinuation among People Receiving Buprenorphine - Park TW, Larochelle MR, Saitz R, et al. Addiction
Associations Between the Specialty of Opioid Prescribers and Opioid Addiction, Misuse, and Overdose Outcomes - Lobo CP, Cochran G, Chang C-CH, et al. Pain Medicine
Characteristics and Receipt of Medication Treatment Among Young Adults Who Experience a Nonfatal Opioid-Related Overdose - Bagley SM, Larochelle MR, Xuan Z, et al. Ann Emerg Med.
Comparative Effectiveness of Different Treatment Pathways for Opioid Use Disorder - Wakeman SE, Larochelle MR, Ameli O, et al. JAMA Netw Open
Evaluation of the Extended-Release/Long-Acting Opioid Prescribing Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy Program by the US Food and Drug Administration - Heyward J, Olson L, Sharfstein JM, et al. JAMA Intern Med
In Rural Areas, Buprenorphine Waiver Adoption Since 2017 Driven by Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants - Barnett ML, Lee D, Frank RG. Health Affairs
Opioid Agonist Treatment and Fatal Overdose Risk in a State-Wide US Population Receiving Opioid Use Disorder Services - Krawczyk N, Mojtabai R, Stuart e, et al. Addiction
Opioid Use Disorder: Barriers to Medicaid Beneficiaries’ Access to Treatment Medications . U.S. Government Accountability Office
Predicting Opioid Overdose Deaths Using Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Data - Ferris LM, Saloner B, Krawczyk N, et al. Am J Prev Med
Practical Factors Determining Adolescent Substance Use Treatment Settings: Results from Four Online Stakeholder Panels - Grant S, Hunter SB, Pedersen ER, Griffin BA. J Subst Abuse Treat
Settling the Score: Maximizing the Public Health Impact of Opioid Litigation - Haffajee RL and Abrams MR. Ohio State Law Journal
Trends and Rapidity of Dose Tapering Among Patients Prescribed Long-term Opioid Therapy, 2008-2017 - Fenton JJ, Agnoli AL, Xing G, et al. JAMA Netw Open
|
|
Forthcoming Presentations
|
|
|
April 4, 2020
Presenting Policy and Science Plenary Session on "Public Health Risks Associated with Medical and Recreational Cannabis Laws" at American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), Denver, CO - Rosalie Pacula
May 20, 2020
Presenting "Dynamics of Local Opioid Markets and Their Response to State Policies, and Review of the Emerging Literature on Naloxone Access Laws" at International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP), Aguascalientes, Mexico - Rosanna Smart and Bryce Pardo
June 9, 2020
Presenting "Dynamics of Local Opioid Markets and Their Response to State Policies" at Stockholm Criminology Symposium, Stockholm, Sweden - Rosalie Pacula
June 16, 2020
Presenting course on Estimating Propensity Scores for Binary, Multinomial, and Continuous Exposures Using TWANG at Society of Epidemiological Research Annual Meeting, Boston, MA - Megan Schuler
June 23, 2020
Presenting Workshop on Identifying Optimal Methods for Opioid Policy Evaluations and Sensitivity Analyses for Unobserved Confounding at College on the Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) Annual Meeting, Hollywood, FL - Megan Schuler, Beth Ann Griffin
|
|
|
|
|
|
OPTIC is designed to be a national resource, fostering innovative and high-quality research in opioid policy science, and developing and disseminating methods, tools, and information to the research community, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
http://www.rand.org/OPTIC
|
|
|
|
Privacy statement
|
 |
RAND Corporation. 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401-3208.
RAND® is a registered trademark.
|
|
|
|
|
