The Inquirer: As addiction crisis grows, Penn ‘nudges’ doctors to limit opioid prescriptions

“A University of Pennsylvania study has found a simple way to nudge emergency department doctors in the right direction: set the electronic medical records system to default to the recommended 10 opioid pills, or about a three-day supply, to treat acute pain. When Penn did that in 2014, the proportion of emergency room prescriptions written for 10 tablets more than doubled, from 21 percent to 43 percent, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. The proportion of scripts for 11 to 19 pills and for 20 pills decreased almost as dramatically, according to the study, published this week in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.”